


Between Waves of Fire

by 0mile



Series: Playing with Fire [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst, Archery, ChangJin is main pairing, Dragons, Explicit Sexual Content, Fantasy AU, Fluff, Happy Ending, Kinda, Kissing, M/M, Magic, Minor Character Death, Slow Burn, Suicide Attempt, Suicide mentions, Swordfighting, already complete so i will be updating weekly, explicit violence, minsung is side pairing but very present, this is gonna be a big one fellas, very slow slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2020-10-27 10:14:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 45,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20758712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0mile/pseuds/0mile
Summary: In an attempt to make his father proud of him, Changbin, the crown prince, goes on a journey to an island to save a captive princess from a dragon, with his best friend Jisung by his side. It turns out that there is no princess, but that is the least of his problems.





	1. The One in the South

**Author's Note:**

> ladies, gentlemen, and my nb friends, i have returned with 45k of changjin.
> 
> i'm posting the first chapter now, and the next one this friday. after that, an update each friday. the reason i'm posting this one earlier is because it's more of an introduction chapter, and i wouldn't want yall to wait too long for the next one since that's where the plot truly thickens.

****

“You left your side open again,” Hangyeol says, pointing his sword at Changbin’s ribs, right at the place where his heart is beating fast.

Changbin rubs his butt where it painfully hit the floor. “Not fair, how do you expect me to defeat the number one swordsman in the country.”

Hangyeol huffs a laugh at that, getting back in position. “I would say you have the skills to do it, as the second best, but I don’t want to inflate your ego too much.” 

Changbin gets up again and raises his sword, ignoring how much his body hurts. “I’ll take that as a challenge.”

It’s been like this ever since Changbin was old and strong enough to hold a wooden sword. Hangyeol, still an apprentice back then but already extremely talented, had taken it upon himself to train Changbin. In hindsight, it was probably his father’s doing. Having his older sister train with an actual master, while his useless son was left to a fellow student.

Little did the old man know that both Hangyeol and Changbin would turn out to be this good.

Changbin lets himself fall back into the sawdust again, beaten by Hangyeol for the millionth time. 

“That’s enough for the day,” Hangyeol says, putting away their practice swords. “Besides, talk amongst the servants goes that you didn’t go out to greet your father this morning.”

Changbin draws a figure in the sawdust, ignoring Hangyeol's judging look.

Hangyeol squats down in front of him and snaps his fingers at him to get his attention. “Changbin, he returned from a three week battle. You know the respectful thing to do is to at least greet him and your sister.”

“I was busy, with– with stuff,” Changbin tries, because he still hasn’t come up with a solid excuse for missing the glorious welcome the servants have been planning for weeks.

As if called, one of the family’s oldest servants, Byungho, shows up in the door opening of the sparring area. “Prince Changbin, your father has summoned you. He is waiting for you in the throne room.” The look on his face is pitiful.

Changbin heaves a big sigh, already dreading the scolding he’s about to get. He holds out his hand for Hangyeol to grab and lift him off the floor. Looking down at his clothes he realizes that he needs to change out of his casual attire to meet his father, but maybe if he shows up like this, sawdust still on his pants, the old man might actually see that he has been using his free time well.

“Pray for me?” he asks Hangyeol, his eyebrows raised in question.

Hangyeol shows him a troubled smile. “No deity can save you now, my friend.”

* * *

The walk to the throne room is long and cold. Despite the hot summer air outside, the stone hallways manage to keep the heat out, shrouding Changbin in darkness, a chill running over his back.

His family has ruled the country for three generations now. His great grandfather a cruel ruler who managed to keep the country safe from outsiders with his powerful army. His grandfather was less rigid, and made the economy flourish like never before, setting up trade routes with many foreign countries. His own father managed to keep these relations strong, despite the many failed harvests. 

His father’s army struck hard whenever there was an uprising from another powerful family, who often lashed out because of the high taxes he had installed. But aside from those uproars, the people loved the man. He was a kind leader, often to be spotted in the capital’s streets, gifting a golden coin to a beggar.

His kindness was the country’s biggest scam. 

The king was a cruel man, and an even crueler father. 

He had always pitted Changbin and his sister against each other, under the guise of motivating them to reach their highest potential. But Changbin wasn’t that competitive of a person, unlike his sister. His sister had inherited that part from their father. She wasn’t as good at sword fighting as Changbin was, but she was cold blooded, never hesitating to make the first move and cutting someone open before the match even started.

Which was why she was the king’s right hand on the battlefield.

“Bow for the king,” the servant next to his father says in a monotone voice as soon as Changbin enters the throne room.

Changbin reluctantly bows, unable to meet his father’s eyes.

“We missed you on the battlefield, son. And then again this morning.” His father’s voice is cold.

There’s no question in his statement, but Changbin still feels like he should make an excuse. “I– I overslept. I am so sorry, father, it won’t happen again.” His fingers shake. It’s an obvious lie. Everyone knows the country’s crown prince is a coward that can’t even kill the wasp that stung him. 

“Our Cheonsa here killed over a hundred men for us.” Changbin finally looks up to where his sister is seated, right next to his father. His blood boils, because that’s supposed to be his mother’s seat. Meanwhile, his mother is sitting on one of the smaller chairs on the side, unworthy of such a wonderful woman as her.

He shivers when he finally meets his older sister’s smug smile. “They squealed like pigs when I introduced them to my sword. Shat themselves when they realized they were killed by a woman.”

“That’s enough, sweetheart,” their mother says, her troubled face focused on Changbin.

Their father holds up his hand. “No, let her speak. She made the Seo family proud.”

Changbin already knows what’s coming next, and yet he still holds his breath.

His father sighs, and Changbin can see right through it. His concern is an act, it always has been. “So how are you going to make the Seo family proud, Changbin?”

“Can’t even find a wife,” his sister adds with a snicker. 

Changbin runs a hand over his neck, wiping away the sweat. It’s been like this ever since he was born, his sister being better at anything she does, and Changbin stumbling behind, desperate to keep up. It only got worse after he had reached adulthood, his mother eagerly trying to find him a suitable lady to marry, in an attempt to make his father happy. But no matter how beautiful the Northern ladies or the foreign princesses were, Changbin just couldn’t do it.

His breath shakes as he stares at the floor, eyes tracing a crack in the otherwise perfect floor. He needs to get away from this place. There was no way he would survive another year in the palace, living a lie, trying to be someone he’s not. 

And yet there was this overwhelming drive within himself to make his father proud of him. To prove once and for all that he was worth carrying the Seo name. He was not a petty person, but it would certainly bring him some joy to be the one to get praised for once, instead of his sister.

A funny thought comes to him, a whisper of a memory, a story he’s been told many times when he was still young. 

“The princess in the South,” he says, voice soft.

“Excuse me? A proper prince would speak up.” his father sounds even more irritated than before.

Changbin finally looks up, finding his voice. “The princess in the South, who’s locked in her castle and guarded by an evil dragon.”

“Sweetheart, that’s just a fairytale.” His mother’s smile is soft.

“It’s not,” His father says, as he stands up from his throne. “My men have seen the castle on the little island down South, have seen the mighty dragon fly over it. No man has ever returned alive once they cross the sea.”

Changbin’s stomach turns as he tries to maintain eye contact with the king. “I’ll go there. I’ll slay the dragon, bring back the princess and marry her. Would that please you, father?” 

His father takes a minute to think it through, but when he answers his smile is cold. “If you succeed, it will.”

* * *

Changbin does not want to marry a princess. At all.

But according to his logic, if he saves this poor girl from being locked away, having to live in constant fear of a dragon, she might agree to a sham marriage. If he was married he would finally get his own palace, far away from the capital. He could give the princess her own room, her own servants, so she could live life however she pleases to. Changbin would pay the servants double so no one would ever find out about– about his lifestyle.

Besides, slaying a dragon in the process would make his father finally see that he _ was _good with a sword. He just prefers to not use it on other people. 

It was the most perfect plan.

“That’s the dumbest plan I ever heard,” Jisung says, chin dripping with peach juice. He takes another bite of the fruit before adding, “and you convinced me to steal honey from an active beehive once. I almost died.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t.” Changbin looks up to where his friend is sitting on a pile of hay, legs swinging happily as he’s snacking on some ripe fruits. 

Jisung’s family had served the Seo clan for a hundred years now, but Jisung was the first one to whom serving didn’t come naturally. He is the worst cook, rude, and still doesn’t know how to properly saddle a horse. The baths he pours are always too cold and he never wakes Changbin up on time.

Changbin thinks that when his father assigned Jisung to be his personal servant when he was only eight years old, he probably did it to spite his son, already disappointed in him. 

But Changbin is grateful for it. 

He considers Jisung his closest friend now. 

"So,” Changbin throws his friend another peach, “wanna join me?” 

Jisung catches it easily, reflexes sharp as ever. “What?”

“Come on, it’ll be fun. Just you and me, like in the old days.” Changbin truly wants Jisung to be there on his trip. He couldn’t imagine going anywhere without him really, the rare vacations Jisung got always had Changbin feeling lonely and miserable. 

“You mean the old days, as in…” Jisung makes a vulgar gesture by sticking his tongue in his cheek.

Changbin takes off his shoe and throws it at him.

That’s another thing. Growing up with Jisung always next to him, spending most hours of the day together, meant that Changbin trusted him more than anyone, even more than Hangyeol. So when he finally went through puberty, and some urges became too hard to suppress, he had confided in Jisung, telling him his darkest secrets.

Jisung happened to be feeling the same urges at the time, although less depressed about them than Changbin was, and was more than happy to experiment with Changbin by fooling around with him on multiple occasions in the exact barn they’re in right now. For a while, it seemed like they were more than that, more than just messing around, but it didn’t work out. They function better as best friends than lovers. 

But Jisung had never judged Changbin for it, never regretted it.

Changbin, however, is still ashamed of who he truly is.

“We agreed not to talk about that anymore,” Changbin hisses.

Jisung holds up his sticky hands in defense. “I didn’t say anything!” 

A loud voice from outside the barn stops Changbin from throwing his other shoe. “Han Jisung, where are you?!” 

Jisung, having been down this road many times before, immediately hides beneath the stack of hay, digging his way in like a mouse. 

The barn’s door swings open, Jisung’s mother standing there, her cheeks red with anger.

Her face softens when her eyes land on Changbin. “Oh, dear prince, I didn’t know you were here. Have you seen Jisung?” 

“No, I haven’t,” he lies, “Have you checked the garden? He usually hangs there around this time.” 

“Thank you, I’ll go there now.” She storms off, muttering a curse under her breath. 

Jisung crawls out from under the pile, hay sticking out of his hair. He sneezes a couple of times as Changbin picks the mess from his head. 

“Okay, I’ll come with you, but only because you’re my best friend. And also because dragons aren’t real.”

“Good.” Changbin smiles. “We leave at dawn.” 

* * *

“Seungmin, get me the best stallion you have,” Jisung says as he walks up to the stable, the big bag on his back messing up his confident stride. 

“We’re all out of those,” Seungmin says, an obvious lie, “I got you a mule though.” He gestures to the young animal tied to a pole with its reigns. 

“A mule?! Are you kidding me?” Jisung drops his bag to greet the animal, an annoyed look on his face. Once he gets close, the mule takes a break from snacking on some hay to stare back at Jisung. Without any hesitation, she takes the straw hat right off Jisung’s head, munching on that instead. This only makes Jisung laugh. “Nevermind, I love her!” 

Changbin smiles at the sight of it. “Where’s my boy?” he then asks Seungmin.

Seungmin gestures over his shoulder. “I left him in the stable since you like to saddle him yourself. Watch out though, he’s a bit excited. As if he knows you’re taking him on a trip.”

Changbin huffs a laugh at that. “He won’t be excited when he finds out we’re going to look for a dragon.” 

“A what now?” Seungmin’s face whitens. 

Changbin curses himself and his blabbermouth. Their mission is supposed to be top secret. So he ignores Seungmin’s panicked questions for him to clear up what he just said, and goes to find his horse. 

Hwan was a gift from his mother on his fourteenth birthday. Back then, the gelding looked intimidating, majestic with his amber mane, standing way taller than Changbin was. Which is still the case of course. He asked his mother for a black coated stallion, so he was quite confused when she presented him with his birthday gift. When he asked however, she explained her golden boy deserved a golden horse.

Needless to say, Changbin fell in love with the horse after that.

And bright he was, not only his coat, but he was also clever, often more so than Changbin. He always seemed to know when rain was coming, and usually ignored Changbin’s commands, guiding him away from danger as Changbin frustratedly pulled on the reigns to gain back control.

His father mocked him for not even being able to control his own horse, but nowadays, Changbin prefers it this way. He never liked to be in control anyways.

Changbin finds Hwan in the last stall. The light shining through the cracks in the stable’s walls reflecting beautifully off his golden coat. Seungmin must have been taking care of him well. 

“Have you missed me?” Changbin asks.

The horse huffs at him, blowing hot air directly into his face. Changbin smiles as he strokes his nose, blowing some air back at him to which Hwan just snorts. 

He needs to remind himself to take him out more when they return from the South. 

Like he’s on autopilot, he goes through the motions of getting him ready for the long journey. He tries to be present in the moment, tries to focus, but his mind is elsewhere. He worries if they packed enough food, or enough coins to get by on the road. And aside from that, there’s a whole other problem.

Last night, he had done some final research. In the palace’s library he found a couple of books that could give him some more insight on what to expect. But alas, the information was sparse. No information on how to get to the island from the shore, or what to expect once you’re there. The books only mentioned its name.

_ Jwiseom_. 

With his mind still in the clouds, he guides his horse outside, finding Jisung clumsily swinging a sword around in the courtyard. “You got a sword?”

“Yeah, Hangyeol dropped by while you were in there horse whispering.” Jisung swings it again, making some sound effects as if he’s stabbing someone. “Do I look cool?”

Changbin tries to hold back his laughter. “You look like you’re more of a danger to yourself than anyone else.” Jisung pouts at this, so Changbin adds, “Alright, okay, you look a little cool.” 

Jisung bows dramatically. “I’ll protect your life with this sword, my dear prince.” 

Changbin’s stomach goes sour at the mere thought of it, and he hopes that won’t be necessary. He doesn’t want Jisung, or anyone for that matter, risking their lives for him. “Alright, let’s get out of here.” 

Once they’re on their way and the palace turns into a small dot on the horizon behind them, Changbin doesn’t look back, not even once.

* * *

“Are we there yet?” Jisung’s voice is whiny. 

“Jisung, it’s only been a day.” So far, their travel was uneventful, aside from Jisung getting into a one sided argument with his stubborn mule once. 

Their pace isn’t fast, so it will probably be another week until they finally reach the small town in the South where they have to be. But this isn’t a problem for Changbin since he’s having a great time, away from the palace, close to his best friend. He wouldn’t even mind if they get a little lost along the way. Everything just to drag it out. 

Changbin notices how the sun will soon touch the horizon. “Come on, let’s camp out.” 

They go off road and into the forest, away from potential muggers. Not far from where they entered the woods, they find a small clearing, one with a little spring where their horse and mule can drink, and soft grass everywhere, making for a comfortable bed. 

Changbin rolls out his bedding and runs his fingers over the fabric, tracing the threads of gold that his mother has so skilfully woven in there. With a funny feeling he realizes that he already misses his mother. The feeling turns bitter when he remembers that she and his father are a package deal. 

To clear his head, he also rolls out Jisung’s bed, which he obviously wasn’t going to do by himself. 

“Who’s the servant now?” Jisung asks with a smirk over his shoulder, his body facing a tree, his back turned to Changbin. 

Changbin finally sees what he’s doing. “Hey! Are you peeing? Don’t do that at the campsite.”

Jisung shakes himself dry and ties the strings of his pants. “Come on, it’s scary out there,” he gestures at the now dark forest. “What if I get lost?”

Changbin lays back on his bedding with a sigh, tired from the trip and his friend’s antics. “Then I’ll have the mule sniff you out, she seems to have taken a liking to you.” 

Jisung drags his bedding across the grass so that it’s directly next to Changbin’s and plops down. He winces at his sore body. Jisung isn’t used to riding all day, his legs and back muscles barely developed, unlike Changbin’s. 

“I’ll have to name her,” Jisung says. “What about ‘Bin’? Because she reminds me a little of you when you were younger, always chasing me around, biting me.”

Changbin chuckles at that, not even a little bothered that he has to share a name with a mule. “Things were easier back then, weren’t they?”

Jisung rolls onto his side and hums in agreement. He swings a leg over Changbin’s waist, caging him in with half a hug. “I really hope there’s no dragon, Binnie,” his voice is soft, already drifting off.

Changbin looks up at the leaves rustling, trying to catch a glimpse of the night sky. 

Suddenly, he doesn’t even know if he wants there to be a dragon or not. Or if he wants the princess to be real. Now that he’s away from the palace, his head should be as clear as the night sky, but it only got cloudier. 

If he arrives South and the fairytale turns out to be exactly that, just a fairytale, then he wouldn’t know what to do. He can’t just return to the capital empty handed, he doesn’t even want to think of the consequences.

Jisung cuddles up to him even closer, snoring softly. Changbin presses a gentle kiss into the other’s hair, careful not to wake him.

Maybe– maybe he could just stay away forever. Just him and his best friend against the world. 

When sleep finally overtakes him, he dreams of a dragon in the capital.

* * *

The sun is scorching hot. 

Unlike Jisung, Changbin wasn’t smart enough to pack a hat, or a jacket for that matter. His bangs protect his forehead, but the rest of his skin is tanning quickly under the unforgiving late summer sun. Even his fingers are burning, nowhere to hide as they hold his horse’s reins tightly. 

“By the way, where are we even going?” Jisung’s question pulls Changbin out of his thoughts.

Changbin looks over his shoulder to where Jisung is coming along behind him slowly, the mule having trouble keeping up. “We’ve been on the road for five days and you’re only asking me this now?” 

Jisung rolls his eyes. “No, I kinda know where we’re going, but– this island, what’s it called?” 

“It’s called Jwiseom,” Changbin answers, Hwan whinnying under him as if he knows what the name means. 

Jisung stops in his tracks. “Jwiseom. Really. Rat Island? Is it an island full of rats?” 

“There’s only one way to find out.” Changbin slows down a bit, waiting for Jisung to catch up, but instead of continuing, Jisung clumsily slides off his mule. “You want a break?” Changbin asks. 

“I’m hungry.” Jisung nods at a bunch of trees to his right. “Wanna see if we can grab some of those apples?” 

Of course Changbin agrees, because he could never say no to a sweet snack. As he takes Hwan by his lead to bring him closer to the trees, he realizes that it’s too early in the year for apples to be growing, and way too early to be ripe. But it’s not the first time he’s seeing weird things happen to crops all over the country. Usually, it’s the other way around. Entire harvests rotting, rice fields being tortured by pests, his servants having to cut the worms out of pears.

But now that he’s far away from the capital, that’s no longer his concern. 

His only concern now is how the hell they’re going to pick these apples, swaying from the highest branches.

Jisung seems to have the same thing on his mind. “I’ll stand on Hwan’s back.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Changbin says and Hwan snorts in agreement. 

Which is how not even a minute later, Changbin ends up with Jisung sitting on his shoulders, his body swaying dangerously under the weight.

“God, how are you so heavy?” Changbin tightens his grip on the other’s legs in fear of dropping him.

“Wow, never heard you complain about having a boy’s thighs around your neck before,” Jisung says as he grabs Changbin’s hair for more stability. “Wait, just a little more, I almost got one–”

Jisung reaches up, stretching his arm as far as he can, his fingers only brushing the underside of the lowest hanging apple. 

The movement makes Changbin wobble for a second, which is enough time for him to step into a small pit in the grass, causing him to lose his balance completely. In an attempt to not break his ankle, he bends his knee a little, indirectly tossing Jisung off his shoulders. 

Jisung lands on his ass in the grass with a loud ‘oof’, grabbing at the back of his head as if he actually hit it on something. 

Changbin knows it’s all an act, and he also knows Jisung is about to throw a whole pity tirade, but then a voice interrupts the moment. 

“You guys look like you could use a hand.”

Changbin looks up at the road, a bit tense because he didn’t hear anyone approach them during their shenanigans. 

A young man stands next to a carriage, probably filled with produce or other sellable items. In front of the carriage is a beautiful black stallion, way too big and powerful for such a simple task. The animal is intimidating, and looks more like it belongs on the battlefield. But then another man appears behind the horse, scratching its neck. Changbin feels the tension leave his body, since he trusts people who are kind to their animals.

“How do you think you can help us? You’re short like us,” Jisung says, polite as ever.

“We got some tricks up our sleeves,” the man says, charming dimples forming as he smiles. “Felix, why don’t you give it a try?”

The other– Felix, looks more like a kid now that Changbin can get a good look at him. His cheeks are youthful and his dark freckles tell him that he’s someone who likes to be outside. Felix nods at the other man, a look of determination on his face.

“Cool name,” Jisung says as Felix passes in between them. He then quickly throws Changbin a wary look, clearly not knowing what’s about to happen either.

Felix lays his hand on the tree and closes his eyes. 

After a minute passes, Changbin finally finds the courage to ask what the hell is going on, but he doesn’t get the chance. A whisper leaves Felix’ mouth, and before they know it, a couple of dozen apples fall from the tree.

Changbin’s jaw drops as a particular ripe one falls on his toe.

“Chan, I did it!” Felix yells to the other, as if he’d just scored a point in a match.

“How the– what the fuck did you just do?” Jisung asks as he picks up an apple, staring at it like it’s made of actual gold.

“I just asked nicely,” Felix answers, his proud smile so dazzling that neither Changbin nor Jisung dare to ask any further. 

“How can we thank you?” Changbin asks, since that’s how his mother raised him.

Felix looks at the other man, Chan apparently, with a question in his eyes. Chan seems to think it over for a second, and then says, “By sharing a meal with us.”

* * *

“Which is how we convinced the guy to give us a hundred gold coins for a single pear,” Chan finishes his story as he pokes at the campfire.

“So, you two are scammers. Neat,” Jisung says, his cheeks stuffed with fruit, already working his way through his third apple from the batch Felix supplied them with earlier. 

“Not scammers,” Chan smiles, the light of the fire reflecting on his face, “just creative businessmen.”

Changbin watches the ash fly up against the quickly darkening sky, rolling an apple around in his hands. Somehow he just can’t get himself to eat it.

There is something… odd about Chan and Felix. He can’t put his finger on what it is though. 

They told them they’re salesmen, traveling around the country trading goods and produce for things of higher value, but it didn’t make sense. Just two guys with a big carriage filled with expensive goods, not a weapon in sight. They would not survive for more than a day on some of the roads, easy prey for bandits.

When Changbin asked them where they were from, they were evasive, especially Chan. The man had a funny accent which Changbin couldn’t place. He also asked Felix about his interesting name, what language it was from, but before the kid could answer, Chan had stepped in and told him it was his chosen name.

Yeah, Changbin has a funny feeling about the two of them.

“So, where are you two going?” Felix asks, tossing Jisung another apple.

“I was about to ask,” Chan says as he jams some meat onto a skewer, letting it roast low on the fire, “I was wondering what someone like you–” his eyes land on Changbin, “is doing here on the roads this far South.”

Changbin drops his apple and his mouth goes dry. 

His feelings were correct, they always were.

This Chan guy probably knows who he is, which is a problem. His mission is supposed to be top secret, only his parents know the details of it. If someone knew the crown prince was traveling with only one companion, some rebels or thieves would certainly come to take his head.

He looks over Chan’s head to where the man’s carriage is parked, the tarp in the back open for easy access. Changbin left his sword next to where Hwan is grazing, easily ten steps further away from whatever Chan might be hiding in his carriage. If this were to escalate there’s no way he’d get there in time.

But fate is not on his side, because before he can come up with a lie, Jisung runs his mouth.

“We’re actually going to Jwiseom to slay a dragon.” His face his smug until he tries to spit out an apple seed and it gets stuck on his lip.

Chan’s face falls. “You shouldn’t go there.”

“Why–” Changbin begins to ask, but then the fire suddenly surges. 

Chan’s eyes seem to darken, which must be a trick of the light. The strong flames make eerie shadows fall on his face, and whatever kindness was in it before, isn’t there anymore now. It’s like they’re suddenly alone, just the two of them with the fire raging between them.

“Changbin,” Chan starts, voice low, and Changbin doesn’t remember ever telling him his name. “Are you really willing to die for honor? For your father?”

Changbin promptly stands. “Come on Jisung, let’s go.” As soon as he stands, the campfire is normal again, and Chan is back to calmly grilling his skewers. It’s almost as if the whole moment hadn’t happened at all. 

“But the food is almost ready!” Jisung’s reaction confirms that he hasn’t seen anything of what occurred just now.

Changbin doesn’t care if he hallucinated it or if he’s going crazy. His head hurts and Chan is scaring the shit out of him, so he’d rather sleep somewhere else with an empty stomach, far away from these weirdos. 

Jisung follows him reluctantly, offering Chan and Felix his apologies as Changbin storms off, packed and on his horse within minutes. 

He doesn’t slow down until it’s deep in the night, the fire behind them so far out of sight that not even Chan’s stallion can catch up with them.

* * *

“You shouldn’t have scared him like that,” Felix says, balancing an apple on one finger, making it spin unnaturally fast with the other.

“Come on,” Chan chews on his food, the rabbit meat tender despite the poor cooking conditions, “I had to spook him somehow. That island is a death trap.” 

“I wouldn’t know, you’ve never taken me there.” Felix’ smile is bittersweet. “You should send a warning.”

“I’m on it.” Chan swallows his last bite of food and clears his throat. 

Felix watches him with great attention as Chan whistles the familiar song. It takes a couple of minutes, because it always takes longer at night, but eventually a little brown bird appears from the dark woods, landing fearlessly on Chan’s hand.

“A Meadow Bunting, how wonderful. You ever seen one of these, Lix?” Felix shakes his head. Chan studies the tiny creature, which is cocking its head at him as he speaks, its small feathers ruffling in the wind. 

Chan reaches in his pocket and grabs a handful of his secret stash. He unfurls his hand to reveal the purple powder. For a moment, the bird seems to think it’s a snack, its interest peaked, but then Chan blows the powder in its face.

“Tell the One in the South that someone is coming.”

Within a second, the bird flies off on its mission.

“You think they will survive?” Felix asks, voice hopeful.

Chan only sighs, because for once he doesn’t have the answer. 


	2. Rat Island

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi the only way i break my updating schedule is when im posting earlier than planned, so here i am!

“I can see the ocean!” Jisung yells, pointing excitedly.

After running away from Felix and Chan, they ended up riding through the night. Luckily, it had only taken two hours for Jisung to stop asking Changbin about what happened with Chan. Changbin had given him the silent treatment, partly because he himself wasn’t really sure about what happened, and partly because he was ashamed of his own cowardice.

But this also meant they arrived a day early at the small town by the coast, the one where they will have to switch out their rides for a boat.

They travel further downhill to get closer to the sea. Hwan sighs under Changbin, exhausted from the nightlong trip. 

“Don’t worry,” Changbin pats his neck, “we’re almost there.”

After turning the corner around an old and collapsed house, they finally get a clear view of the ocean, and the sight that greets them is one familiar to Changbin.

He’s seen it a hundred times in paintings and illustrations in children’s books.

Jwiseom.

The island is small and very unimpressive. There’s no dragon circling overhead, and as far as he can see, there’s no castle either. Amused, Changbin wonders if the princess might be living in a hut, or that maybe Jwiseom is an island full of rats and nothing else after all.

They find a farm, with a large field of grass greener than Changbin has ever seen before, so he thinks this might be the perfect place for his horse and Jisung’s mule to stay for the day. Or even a little longer. How long does it even take to slay a dragon?

Now all they have to do is convince the farmer to take them in.

“Let me handle it,” Jisung says as he hops off his mule. “I speak the dialect.”

It only takes five minutes for Jisung to come running out, and angry farmer chasing him with a broom.

Changbin might not speak the dialect, but he speaks a universal language that everyone understands: money.

The bag of gold coins is enough for the farmer to care for their animals for an entire year, but Changbin can’t be bothered. He got more where that came from.

The farmer holds out his hand to take Hwan from Changbin, eager to get on with his day already. Changbin whispers Hwan a quick goodbye and promises him to be back soon, but he can’t stop the sour feeling in his stomach when he watches his beloved horse disappear into a stranger’s stable.

“Come on.” Jisung pulls on his arm. “Dragons to kill, princesses to save.” 

It turns out that they don’t need to buy a boat, because when they make their climb down to the beach, it’s littered with abandoned boats, their sails ridden with holes.

“Well, that’s a good sign,” Jisung says, only worsening the bad feeling Changbin’s been having ever since yesterday.

They find an old dinghy that they could use, since neither of them know how to work a sail. Changbin checks the floor for holes and Jisung manages to find two non-matching oars from the other boats. Silently, they load their stuff into it, their swords landing on the bottom with a loud clunk. Changbin really hopes they won’t be needing them at the island. 

It’s not far to the island and the weather is nice, so there shouldn’t be any problem getting there, and yet Changbin can’t shake the awful nervous feeling.

Once they’ve pushed past the waves and Changbin starts rowing, Jisung finally breaks the silence.

“I think now’s a good time to tell you I can’t swim,” he says, staring nervously at the water.

“Then it’s also a good time to tell you I can’t row for shit.” Changbin fights with the oars, trying to get a good momentum so they can finally stop going in circles.

A seagull screams above them and Jisung ducks, as if a bird is their biggest concern right now.

Changbin finally gets the hang of it, his shoulders burning from pushing against the unforgiving current, which seems to change its direction every minute. But the island is getting closer. It’s so close now that they could practically swim there.

“There’s a shark.” Jisung points to their right, his hand shaking. 

Changbin tries to see where he’s pointing, but all he sees is some seagulls fighting midair. “There’s no sharks here.”

“I swear I saw it. I saw a fin.” Jisung leans over the edge of the boat, causing it to shake dangerously. “Oh God, we’re gonna die.” 

“Calm down, I said there’s no–”

A loud bang sounds from under the boat, as if something large has just hit it.

Jisung pales and shares a look with Changbin. 

Another knock has the boat almost tipping over.

And with that Changbin picks up the pace, almost tearing his arm muscles with the speed he’s rowing. The coast is too far away now so the only place they can go is the island. 

“Quicker!” Jisung yells, taking out his sword and holding it up weakly, as if that’s going to stop a shark.

The boat shakes again, but this time Changbin got it under control. He steers with one oar, and manage to get the boat back on track and in balance again quickly. The island is so close now that they might actually make it. 

He didn’t travel all the way here to die at sea.

The knocking stops, and they’re in shallow water now, so they should be safe. Jisung lowers his sword and Changbin slows down, since his arms can’t take any more of this. 

Jisung holds up a fist. “Fuck you, shark! You can’t eat us, we’re legends!”

Changbin snorts at that, letting out a sigh of relief.

He doesn’t know what hit them until the boat is upside down and all he sees is water. 

The salt water stings his eyes and he can’t breathe. What’s even worse is that he can’t find Jisung.

Somehow, he finds the surface and manages to get some air, but he couldn’t care less about his own safety right now. He needs to find his best friend.

God bless Hangyeol for throwing him in the river at age ten to teach him how to swim, because he’s able to dive down and finally spot Jisung. His friend is not unconscious yet, but trashing around wildly.

What’s even worse is that he seems to be moving further away from Changbin every second, as if he’s being dragged down into the depths. Changbin curses his lungs for aching but he pushes on, not willing to go up for air without his friend. 

He manages to catch up, grabbing Jisung’s arm. His eyes feel like they’re shriveling up and he can barely see, but what he can see is already enough to stop his heart.

Something, a creature shrouded in red, is attached to Jisung’s arm. The cloud of Jisung’s blood is messing with his vision, but Changbin sees enough to know that this isn’t a shark. 

His muscles hurt and his lungs are about to give up on him, but he gathers his final strength, literally the last he has in him, to punch the creature on the nose, hard.

If it worked, he doesn’t know, because his vision goes dark and all he feels is himself drifting in the ocean.

* * *

Changbin wakes up to the sun burning his face and his cheek sticking to the sand. He can’t open his eyes just yet, but a calm washes over him as he realizes he’s still alive.

This calm feeling doesn’t last long, because before he knows it, a foot is nudging him in the chest.

“Congratulations, you survived,” an unfamiliar voice says.

Changbin finally tries to open his eyes, but he’s blinded by the sun. Vaguely, he can make out the shadow of a figure standing over him, still pushing against his chest with his foot.

“Jisung?” he asks, voice cracking.

“Your friend? He’s alive as well, just a bit mangled up,” the stranger says. 

Changbin rolls onto his back, blinking hard, trying to get his vision back. His body aches, worse than it has ever before. Not only do his arms feel like jelly, his chest feels tight as well, lungs still getting used to breathing again. 

With great difficulty, he sits up, spotting Jisung a short distance away from him, looking like he’s sleeping soundly on the beach.

Across the water he can see the mainland.

They made it.

“It’s been a while since anything but corpses washed ashore. You should be proud of yourselves.” Changbin follows the sound of the voice and can finally take a proper look at the stranger.

The young man has sat down now, legs crossed, playing with the sand and burying his feet in it, his long lashes casting shadows on his face under the bright sun. His hair is a shade Changbin has never seen on a human, a deep purple very much like a starling he had seen on a hunt before. The man is absolutely beautiful and suddenly Changbin finds it hard to believe he’s actually alive, and not in heaven or something.

The other adjusts the flower he’s wearing behind his hair and throws Changbin a look. “What? Go check on your friend or something.”

Changbin scrambles up and does exactly that.

Jisung is mumbling, probably dreaming, but Changbin shakes his shoulders to snap him out of it. His eyes land on his left arm where weird, almost human like bite marks slowly ooze blood. 

Changbin tears the sleeve off his own shirt and quickly ties it around the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding. As he’s tying the knot, Jisung slowly wakes, wincing at the pain.

“I fucking hate sharks,” is the first thing that comes out of his mouth.

“Don’t think that was a shark, buddy,” Changbin says as he takes Jisung’s face in his hands and squeezes his cheeks, so happy that he’s still alive. “Let’s stay safe from now on, yeah?”

“We still gotta kill that dragon, remember?” Jisung says as he slowly sits up, voice hoarse.

“Dragon is that way,” the stranger says, pointing behind him.

Jisung whips his head around at the sound of the other’s voice. “Who the fuck are you?

“Oh, he’s got a mouth on him. Are you sure you’re not a sailor?” the stranger teases. 

Jisung grabs around himself in the sand, looking for something. “Fuck, our swords.”

Their swords were probably at the bottom of the ocean right now, along with their other belongings.

How the hell are they going to slay a dragon without a sword?

A heavy feeling weighs down Changbin’s chest. He wants to go home. So he gets on his feet and holds out a hand to lift Jisung off the sand. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

They leave the stranger on the beach, since he wouldn’t answer any more of their questions about the dragon, and only laughed when they mentioned the princess. 

Behind the beach is a thick forest, growing on a hill. Changbin’s shoes are still wet, so it’s hard to not slip as he climbs over fallen tree trunks and rocks larger than him. Jisung grabs a stick along the way, mumbling about how it will have to do instead of a sword. 

But when they finally get to the top of the hill, the view is wonderful.

Jwiseom is way bigger than it seemed before, and between the hills that run all along the coast stretches a beautiful valley, its grass green and fruit trees plenty. In the middle of the valley lies a small castle, the smallest Changbin has ever seen, cute compared to his own home in the capital. Perhaps there’s a princess hiding here after all.

However, there’s still no dragon in sight.

They make their way down the hill, this time easier as there’s nothing in their way, only grass. 

Changbin gets that funny feeling in his stomach again as they walk towards the castle, as if something’s about to happen. He eyes the hills suspiciously, thinking a dragon might appear from behind them any second now. 

When they arrive at the castle, the gate is open. Changbin wonders if this might be where the stranger on the beach lives. Perhaps he’s the princess’ servant? Like Jisung is his?

“Do we just walk in?” Jisung asks.

“I don’t know,” Changbin chews on his lip, “I feel like that might be rude.”

But then, as Changbin had feared, he hears the sound of wings flapping overhead. He knows it’s not a bird, because he doesn’t hear the recognizable sound of feathers, instead it sounds like the bats that hide in his palace’s basement, only way louder.

Jisung holds up his stick in front of him as defense. Both of them try to catch a glimpse of whatever monster is circling around them, but they’re blinded by the bright sun.

The wings slow down and Changbin hears the creature land behind them, but he’s too afraid to look. 

Jisung, however, swings around, ready to attack with his stick, but stops dead in his tracks. “Uhm, Bin?”

Changbin takes a deep breath and finally turns, his legs shaking in fear.

He’s greeted with something he never would have expected.

In between the palace gates sits a dragon. 

Yes, an actual dragon.

A dragon the size of his aunt’s lapdog.

“I’m so sorry Changbin, but I can’t kill that,” Jisung says as they watch the dragon try to scratch itself behind the head, missing the right spot by miles. “It’s– it’s cute somehow.”

“It’s something,” Changbin says, studying how the sun reflects off the creature’s black scales like onyx. 

The dragon suddenly notices them, and seems to be more scared of them than they are of him. It’s rattled for a few seconds, but then collects itself and comes their way. 

It seems weirdly excited, it’s eyes going cross-eye as it spots Jisung. It hobbles closer to him, tripping a little over a small rock, and then starts nipping at Jisung’s ankles, sharp teeth bared.

“Shit, what the fuck! Get it away from me!” Jisung screams as he runs away, swinging his stick at the dragon. This just seems to spur the tiny creature on, as its tail swishes violently.

Changbin laughs as he finally understands what’s going on. “Jisung! Throw the stick!”

“Huh?!” Jisung hesitates, but throws his only defense away. And just like Changbin expected, the dragon goes after the stick instead. It chews on it excitedly, until it accidentally sets the stick on fire, turning it into ashes within a second. The creature looks sad and Changbin actually feels bad for it. 

He’s about to go look for another stick to please the dragon, when a loud voice cuts through the valley.

“Geom! Come here!”

The dragon immediately spreads his wings and takes off, flying towards the castle. On the lower watchtower stands a young man, his eyes locked on Changbin. The dragon slows its flight and carefully lands on the man’s shoulder, who raises his hand to give the creature a scratch under his chin. 

The young man looks sad at first, but his expression then switches to disdain. Changbin lifts his hand to wave at him, to show that they mean no harm, but the man just huffs and disappears inside.

Changbin is slowly starting to realize that there might be no princess.

* * *

There is no princess.

Minho, the person they met at the beach, had told them as much as he caught up with them. He took them inside the small castle and helped with the wound on Jisung’s arm. 

Changbin asked him why he hadn’t told them more about the dragon, or the fact that there was no princess, but Minho said that he liked to see the look of surprise on people’s faces when everything they thought to be true turned out to be a lie. 

After dressing Jisung’s wound with some very weird looking ointment and covering it with some fresh bandages, Minho led them to the basement of the castle. On their way down, Changbin was intrigued by the castle’s architecture, since it was something he had never seen before. The walls were high and made out of a strange red rock, covered in beautiful paintings, the styles dating centuries back.

Changbin had to admit he was very nervous and scared for his life once they stopped in front of a set of impressive double doors, but the feeling quickly faded when Minho unlocked them, revealing a beautiful bathhouse. 

“You guys stink. There’s clean clothes in the cupboards. You can come up for dinner after you’re done,” Minho says, and then turns to Jisung, “Don’t get your bandages wet or I’ll send Geom after you.”

“How will we find the dinner hall?” Changbin asks.

“Just follow your nose,” Minho answers, and then quickly walks off as soon as Jisung starts undressing.

The room is unnaturally steamy, the marble floor warm under Changbin’s feet. The ceilings are low, which helps to keep in the heat. In the middle of the room is a large bath, dug out in the floor, almost big enough to fit ten people. Changbin kneels down next to it and dips his hand in the water. “This feels like a hot spring. I didn’t know we had them in this country.”

“Well, I’m happy we do,” Jisung says as he quickly lowers himself into the bath, immediately wetting his bandages. “God, I needed this.” He closes his eyes and leans back, a look of complete bliss on his face. 

Changbin turns to the cupboards instead of undressing, finding the fresh clothes Minho mentioned, and also finding the other thing he was looking for.

The blade is sharp and shimmers dangerously even in the dim lit room. Its handle is well crafted, made from a rock that Changbin doesn’t recognize, its color like ivory with streaks of blue and purple running through it like the interior of an oyster. His hands shake a little with nerves since it’s been a while since he last shaved himself with a knife.

He takes some oil from the bottle he found and warms it between his fingers. It’s fragrant, with hints of lavender and oak, and when he spreads it on his face his nerves cease. The glide of the blade is smooth and he finishes quickly without any cuts. When he runs his fingers over his now smooth chin he realizes that it’s the cleanest shave he’s ever had, even better than his servants do it at home.

“This knife is amazing,” he says, holding it up for Jisung to see, “You need it?”

“Nah,” Jisung waves it away, “too much effort for the three hairs on my chin.”

Changbin laughs. “Suit yourself, shrimp.”

Jisung clicks his tongue. “Get in so I can drown you for a second time today.”

As Changbin undresses he finally notices just how beaten his body is. There’s a large bruise at the side of his rib cage, and another one on his knee. The darkest of them all is forming on the knuckles of his right hand, the one he punched the– whatever the hell it was that was trying to eat Jisung in the ocean.

He tries to push the memory of it away, still so confused about what he saw down there in the cold water. However, the bath takes his mind off it, the hot water slowly relaxing the tension in his body as he sinks down.

“So, what now?” Jisung breaks the silence.

Changbin thinks over their options. To be honest, between their adventure at sea and whatever was going on on the island, he was more than ready to head back to the capital already. “I guess we go home?”

“That’s it? You don’t think this shit is fishy?” Jisung asks as he picks at his bandages. “Let’s search this place after dark, okay? Maybe they’re hiding the princess somewhere.” 

“What if we get caught?” Changbin thinks about how many secret passageways the castle must have, and how they don’t even know if there might be more people living here, aside from Minho and the mysterious young man he saw earlier. But most of all, the castle’s guard dog– no, dragon. Geom. 

“The dragon?” Jisung’s smile is wicked. “Guess we just gotta bring another stick.”

* * *

Minho was right about one thing, it isn't hard for them to find the dining hall.

After they finish bathing, they get dressed in their clean clothes, a set of light cotton shirts and wide pants, woven loosely for the hot summer air. As soon as they leave the basement, the smell of food hits their noses. Fried garlic, fresh herbs, and a bunch of other stuff dominate the air in the palace. Unfortunately, the smell only makes Changbin more homesick.

“Took you long enough,” Minho says as they enter the dining hall. When his eyes land on Jisung’s bandage, his face falls. “Next time you don’t listen to me, I’ll take your arm.”

“Hey, it’s all good!” Jisung holds up his hands in apology and is about to show exactly how good his arm is doing, when both he and Changbin spot the figure at the end of the long dining table.

It’s the young man from before, calmly sipping at his soup, not sparing them a single glance.

He’s hard to see under the dim candle light, but Changbin can still make out enough to know that the man is beautiful.

It’s the second time in one day that Changbin is shocked breathless by another man’s beauty.

But this guy is different. Where Minho has his beauty in his sharp lines, perfect nose, and large dark eyes that seem to look right through him, this young man is… soft. That’s the only way Changbin can describe it. Soft plush lips that fall open delicately as the man blows at his soup to cool it down, strong eyebrows that should make him look stern, but instead they mellow out his expression. 

Beautiful brown eyes that would be able to show such kindness if they weren’t filled with so much animosity as they stare down at Changbin.

Changbin knows a threat when he sees one, and he unconsciously reaches for his sword, only to realize that it’s not there.

But then the man’s expression swifts to something more neutral, and he finally speaks. “Welcome to my house. You’ve met Minho.” He wipes his mouth with a napkin. “I’m Hyunjin.”

Changbin stays silent, still uneasy, so Jisung speaks up instead. “I’m Han Jisung, and this guy’s Seo Changbin. He’s the prince–” 

Hyunjin interrupts him. “I’ll allow no titles in my household.” His eyes find Changbin again. “I hope that doesn’t bother you.” It’s not as much as a question as it is a challenge, but Changbin lets it slide. Hyunjin’s smile is cruel and composed, but he can see there’s something else hiding beneath the surface.

“Okay, enough with the cockfighting. Sit and eat, for fuck’s sake.” Minho gestures at the empty seats across from him, both with a bowl of soup and a plate of vegetables in front of them. “I did not spend all morning cooking for this to go to waste.”

Changbin wonders why Minho cooked so much food if he didn’t even know they were coming, but the thought disappears as he sits down and gets a good whiff of the meal in front of him. His stomach growls violently. They ended up not eating that meal with Chan and Felix after all, so it’s been a while.

The soup is delicious, a mixture of spices in it that Changbin has never tasted before. Next to him, Jisung eats like it’s been weeks since their last meal, streams of soup running over his cheeks as he tries to slurp it all up in one go. 

Changbin is warm and satisfied after eating the soup, and feels himself gain strength again. He’s about to snack on his toasted veggies, as a thump sounds through the room, the table shaking a little. 

He looks up to see that they have another dining guest.

At the other end, next to Hyunjin, Geom the dragon has hopped onto the table. Hyunjin holds up a slice of bell pepper, waving it in front of Geom’s face. The creature seems excited, and coughs a couple of times before he finally breathes out a flame, toasting the vegetable in Hyunjin’s hand.

If Hyunjin is bothered by his hand basically burning, he doesn’t show it. Instead he takes a bite of the scorched vegetable, and then tosses what’s left into the air, only for Geom to clumsily catch it.

“You ever seen a dragon before, Seo Changbin?” Hyunjin asks, his eyes still on Geom, fondness in them as he watches the thing chew.

“Only in books–” Changbin pauses, because he feels like he should address Hyunjin properly. Was he a lord? A master? Maybe a duke? Who else would own a castle like this? But Hyunjin said there were no titles allowed in his household, so he swallows the rest of his sentence.

Hyunjin smiles again, but this time it’s bittersweet. “Well, you’ll be seeing a lot of him from now on, since you won’t be leaving anytime soon.”

* * *

“What the fuck does he mean we can’t leave?!” Jisung yells as he runs after Changbin, trying to keep up with him while also dodging the low hanging branches in the woods.

_ No living being shall leave the island. _

A curse, Minho explained to them. A curse rested on the island, making it so that once a living being set foot on the beach, there was no way to go back. Ever. 

Changbin couldn’t believe it, obviously. There was no way he could be physically stopped from running into the ocean and swimming all the way back right now, sharks be damned. But there had been other things he didn’t believe in before, like dragons.

Which is why he’s running towards the edge of the island as fast as his tired legs can carry him, to see for himself what this curse truly means.

He comes to a halt on the beach, Jisung following shortly after, and stares at the dark sea, which looks eerie under the moonless night sky.

“He said we couldn’t touch the sea, right? Let’s try.” Changbin leans forward to roll up the ends of his pants. 

Jisung pulls at his bandages. “I don’t know, man. Salty water is not my friend right now.”

Changbin takes a deep breath and decides to be brave for once. With confident strides he walks towards the waves, convinced nothing can stop him.

That is until he is just one step away from the water and his body freezes.

It’s not like he wants to stop moving, he just can’t seem to make his brain lift up his legs. Even when he tries to move his hands, there’s no reaction. He just stands there, motionless. He looks down at a wave slowly rolling onto the beach, and when the water spreads around his shoes in the most unnatural way, never touching him, he feels like he might piss himself from fear.

From all the things that happened today, this single moment is the most terrifying thing yet.

As soon as he decides to move backwards, his body unfreezes. He stumbles a bit, getting used to having control over his limbs again, and turns around to look at Jisung. “I couldn’t– I couldn’t move.”

“Nonsense,” Jisung says.

His friend puts one of his legs forward, getting ready for a sprint, tongue peeking out in focus, and runs towards the water. 

And then, in the same way as Changbin did earlier, he gets stopped in his tracks, frozen and terrified.

Jisung falls backwards into the sand, look on his face incredulous.

“Let’s try one more thing,” Changbin suggests, not ready to give up just yet.

He picks up Jisung, holding him around his waist, and swings him a little for momentum, just like they used to do as kids when they were playing around in the fighting pit. Jisung is about to object just as Changbin gains enough momentum to throw Jisung towards the sea.

Jisung flies through the air for a moment, before he gets stopped mid-air by an invisible force, and falls down awkwardly, the soft sand breaking his fall. 

His friend laughs bitterly as he throws a handful of sand towards the sea. “What’s the fucking point of being stuck on an island if you can’t even have a swim?” Jisung jokes, but the crack in his voice betrays his true feelings. 

Changbin tries not to panic, tries to keep it together in front of his friend, but he can’t. The mainland is right there, a dark shadow across the water, and yet it looks so far away. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll get out of here. Somehow,” he says. 

For Jisung’s sanity, he doesn’t point out the set of bright green eyes staring at them from the water.

* * *

Hyunjin disappears after that. 

Minho tells them that he’s just moping, and that they shouldn’t bother him, but Changbin finds it hard to not charge into his bedroom to demand answers. With a bitter taste in his mouth he watches Geom fly in and out the other’s bedroom window, dropping off fruits and other gifts to the young man.

Changbin and Jisung are both assigned their own bedroom. The rooms are honestly beautiful and luxurious, and normally Changbin would enjoy it if he weren’t stuck on an island with the world’s crankiest man alive and his weird servant.

After a couple of days, Jisung stops asking for answers, instead stuffing his cheeks with Minho’s cooking, easily distracted as always. The man, who still hasn’t explained to them how his hair is such a strange color, just like he hasn’t explained much else either, continues to dress Jisung’s bite wounds with smelly ointments. Each time they’re a bit different, and he mumbles to himself about the ingredients as he studies Jisung’s still aching wound. 

Changbin entertains himself by going to the beach daily, walking a perimeter while checking for weak spots. Every now and then he catches a flare of red in the corner of his eye, something dipping just above the waves, but when he turns his head, it disappears.

On the seventh day, Changbin has had enough. 

He puts his hand over Jisung’s mouth to stop him from screaming as he wakes him up in the middle of the night. 

As soon as Jisung notices what’s going on, he sticks out his tongue to lick Changbin’s hand.

Changbin instantly pulls away. “Ew,” he whispers.

Jisung grins sleepily. “Never heard you say that about someone’s tongue–”

“Let me stop you right there,” Changbin interrupts. “You wanted to snoop around, right? Now’s the perfect time.”

Jisung perks up at that, immediately more awake. “An adventure?” He throws his sheets off and jumps out of bed, standing butt naked in the middle of his room, ready to go.

“Yeah, just put on some clothes please.”

During the night, the halls in the castle seem to echo even more, so they’re extra careful to not make any sounds as they sneak around on their socks. Jisung holds up a candle in front of them, but still it’s hard to see which way they’re going.

They start at the basement, but they find that every room, aside from the baths, is locked. They haven’t seen Hyunjin nor Minho carry around keys, so they wouldn’t even know where to steal one if they wanted to. Jisung gets frustrated and kicks at one of the doors, the sound vibrating throughout the entire building. Changbin kicks him in the shin for that.

Eventually, on the ground floor, they find the kitchen, where Minho is always hiding. He had told them on their first day there that it was absolutely off limits, so they’re surprised to find that it isn’t locked. Once they’re inside, it’s obvious why the man wanted to hide it.

The kitchen is filled with plants, some familiar, some not, and some of them so strange that Changbin doubts they’re even plants in the first place. There’s a purple plant hanging by the window, and once Changbin tries to touch the leaves, it shoots out spikes, almost stinging him in the fingers. 

There’s a hearth with a fire that seems to burn on air alone, not a piece of wood in sight. On the fire are some pots, weird concoctions bubbling away quietly. Jisung sticks his nose in one of them and breaks out in a coughing fit.

“Fuck, I’m not gonna eat this soup tomorrow,” he says between coughs.

Changbin picks up a lapel and stirs in the pot closest to him, grimacing at the stickiness of the mixture. “I don’t think it’s soup,” he says as he lifts up his lapel, taking out something that looks like a rat’s tail.

Jisung doesn’t seem bothered by it however, because he just shrugs and moves on. Changbin throws the tail back in the pot and frowns. It’s only been their first week on the island and he can already notice Jisung is developing a soft spot for Minho. Maybe it’s the copious amounts of food the other man is slipping him, or maybe something else, but Changbin vows to keep an eye on it.

“Look, another dragon!” Jisung hisses, pointing excitedly at the counter.

“That’s a lizard,” Changbin says as he comes closer, watching the small green reptile lap away at something sticky on the surface of the counter.

“Same thing,” Jisung says, “Come on, let’s move on.”

They make their way up the stairs, back on the floor where they started. At the beginning of the hallway is Minho’s bedroom, so they stalk by quietly. Their bedrooms are at the very end of the hallway, but there’s one room with double doors in the middle that they haven’t opened yet. Jisung cheers silently when he finds it to be unlocked. 

Quietly, Jisung pushes open the doors and reveals a library.

The room is beautiful, but cramped, bookcases against every wall, shelves filled with books upon books. Changbin gets an excited feeling at all the possible knowledge that could be hidden here. If he’s allowed to spend some time inside the library, he might be able to fight his boredom _ and _find a solution for their predicament. 

Jisung immediately starts looking through the books that are still open on the large table in the middle of the room.

“I’ll take this side of the room,” Changbin whispers, “let me know if you find something.” 

Changbin runs his hand over a row of books, marveling at how ancient some of the covers look, woven craftily with golden lettering. He takes one of the books out, happy to find that this one is in his own language. The title is ‘maps of the world’ but when he flips to the page that should hold the map for their country, he’s shocked to find that it’s incorrect.

Or more like, he doesn’t recognize any of the city names, all of them sounding weird as he reads them out loud. It bothers him when a city on the east of the country is marked as the capital, on the complete opposite side of his own hometown.

He puts the book away quickly, and turns to Jisung. “Did you find anything?”

Jisung jolts and snaps the book he’s reading shut. He turns around and hides the book behind his back. “N-nothing.”

“Ji… what you got there?” Changbin asks, holding out his hand.

Reluctantly, Jisung takes the book from behind his back and hands it to Changbin.

Changbin takes the heavy book, tracing the engraved letters on the front with the tip of his finger.

It reads ‘potions and ointments for the mystical ailments’.

“Page eighty,” Jisung says.

Changbin opens it and flips to said page, slowly reading its contents. “Ocean nymph… ointment… rat tails,” Changbin whispers the words as it settles in, “Jisung what the fuck?”

“Guess it wasn’t a shark that got me,” Jisung shrugs, but it’s obvious that he’s distraught, since he’s picking at his bandages again. 

Jisung looks around the room and his eyes land on something at the top of a particular tall bookcase. “There’s a box with a lock on it. That must hold something good, right?”

Everything feels wrong suddenly, and Changbin feels nauseous. He wants to go back to bed and forget everything he learned tonight, but he also wants to get the fuck away from this island, so if the answers to their problems lie in that box, they might as well give it a shot.

“I’ll go grab it. You catch me if I fall, okay?” Jisung says as he starts climbing the shelves.

Normally Changbin would object, and call it a stupid plan, but his mind is still in the book he read earlier. He tries not to get ahead of himself, but– the creature he saw underwater… could it be? And was Minho cooking up ointments to heal Jisung’s wound? Since the bite marks weren’t closing up on its own any time soon. 

Changbin is so lost in his thoughts that he forgets to pay attention to what’s going on above him. When he looks up, he can see that Jisung is almost at the top, only two shelves away from the metal box.

Jisung then places his socked foot against an unsteady stack of books, causing three of them to fall from the shelf. Changbin manages to catch two of them, the third one dropping with a loud clunk.

“Be careful,” he whispers.

“I am!” Jisung hisses back.

And that’s when the bookcase starts swaying under Jisung’s weight. Jisung immediately stiffens to make it stop moving, waiting for it to settle down.

Once it stops, he lets out a sigh of relief, lifting his foot to climb up the final and tenth shelf to finally grab the box.

When Jisung’s whole foot slips off the shelf, his first instinct is to pull at everything in front of him, causing the entire massive bookcase, with all its books to tip backwards, Jisung and Changbin both in its path of destruction.

As it’s falling over, it feels like time moves in slow-motion, and Changbin thinks it’s kind of funny how of all things that could kill them on this island, a bookcase will be their demise.

He shuts his eyes and holds his arms out in front of him, awaiting its impact. However, the bookcase never crashes down on him, instead it’s just Jisung, knocking Changbin over as he falls on top of him. Once Changbin pushes Jisung off of him to see what happened, he finds that he’s surrounded by ash, slowly drizzling down, creating a bed of black snow around them.

In the door opening of the library stands Hyunjin in his nightshirt. His hand is raised and it’s glowing a dangerous red. 

The only comfort that Changbin finds in that moment is that Hyunjin looks just as shocked as him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter: some things will be cleared up, the snappy water creature will finally be introduced, but most importantly, hyunjin finally warms up to changbin.


	3. Bullseye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wasn't gonna update bc ao3 was down but here i am anywayssss <33

Minho places a pot filled with a sticky substance on the kitchen’s counter. “I think it’s about time we clear some things up,” he says as he takes Jisung’s arm and unwraps his bandage.

“I’d like that. Would be even better if Hyunjin were here,” Changbin says as he sits on a stool by the kitchen’s window, holding out a piece of fruit for the lizard from last night to snack on. It reminds him of Geom as it goes cross-eye, turning its head a little before finally biting down.

“He told me what happened last night, but I’m afraid he went back to moping in his room.” Minho pulls Jisung closer by his arm and inspects his wounds, pressing a finger on one of the gnarlier gashes. Jisung winces.

Jisung has been uncharacteristically quiet all morning. Last night must have really shaken him up. But Changbin doesn’t think it scared Jisung, the opposite actually. He seems to be sitting closer to Minho than before, watching him with great attention as Minho rubs the smelly ointment into his wounds. Minho massages his skin to promote blood flow, hoping it will heal quicker. 

“As you might have already figured out, it wasn’t a shark that bit you. You can call it an ocean nymph, a siren, or a mermaid,” Minho flashes a small smile at their shocked faces, “but we just call him Jeongin.”

Jisung’s jaw drops. 

“He has a name?” Changbin asks.

“He’s quite sweet once you get to know him.” Minho finishes wrapping up Jisung’s arm and hops off his chair. “Actually, that reminds me–” He opens a cupboard at the far end of the room, and takes out two bags and something else that makes Changbin’s heart burn with joy. “He dropped these off earlier because he felt guilty about almost eating you guys.” Minho drops the stuff on the counter, the metal hitting it with a sharp sound.

Changbin and Jisung are immediately up on their feet to grab their stuff. Jisung ignores his sword and goes straight for his bag. Changbin however, unsheathes his sword, happy to see the unforgiving sea didn’t cause any damage to it. 

“Now, if you don’t mind, I got some work to do,” Minho says, gesturing for them to leave the kitchen.

Jisung squeezes his still moist bag to his chest, chewing on his bottom lip. “Wait, I wanted to ask you something.”

Minho is already flipping through one of his cooking books. “Shoot.”

“Are you, like– you know,” Jisung drops his bag and vaguely gestures with his hands.

Minho frowns, trying to figure out what Jisung is trying to say. He then looks like he lands on the wrong conclusion from how his face changes to a shocked one. “Excuse me?”

Changbin quickly steps in before it can grow into a misunderstanding. “He’s trying to ask if you’re a witch or something.”

“Oh, that makes more sense.” Minho looks relieved. “Actually, I am.”

Changbin guessed as much, but having the truth out in the open still unsettles him. He’s only heard awful things about witches. Of them putting curses on people, stealing families’ newborns, sacrificing animals to some gods he’s never heard of before. But Minho has been so nice to them since they landed on the island, albeit in his own peculiar ways. He’s cooked for them, provided them with clean clothes and a fresh bed, and made it his mission to heal Jisung’s awful wounds.

So perhaps witches aren’t so bad after all.  
  
  


* * *

Days pass as summer quickly turns into autumn.

Behind the castle there’s a field where Changbin and Jisung have been spending most of their time now.

The field holds all of the island’s crops and is Minho’s pride and life’s work. There’s fruit trees, growing apples and pears and lemons the size of Changbin’s hand. Between the trees there’s rows upon rows of crops, all of them growing unnaturally fast. The first time he saw Jisung pull out a carrot the size of his leg, Changbin was quite shocked, but now he’s gotten used to it.

It isn’t the weirdest thing on the island after all.

Minho was quick to put them to work, dragging them out of bed at the crack of dawn, making Jisung help with breakfast and leaving Changbin to carry out the more physically demanding tasks.

Today he’s assigned with chopping wood in preparation for winter. 

It’s not something he’s ever done in his life before. Usually, the servants at his palace would do such a task. Or at least he thinks they do, maybe they buy it from a local lumberjack. It suddenly annoys him that he doesn’t even know the workings of his own palace. 

The axe is sharp and easily slices the woodblocks in half, and then quarters. There’s something so satisfying about the pile of blocks stacking up next to him, physical proof of his hard work and progress. 

In between chops he watches Minho explain something to Jisung, both crouched down next to a patch of dirt. Minho is very knowledgeable about farming, and it’s fun to watch Jisung listen to him with great attention. Changbin has never seen Jisung be so serious about anything.

The telltale sound of flapping wings tells Changbin that Hyunjin is on his way over before he can even see him.

“I never thought I’d see the day where a prince is chopping wood,” Hyunjin says as he approaches, hands in his sides.

Changbin splices another block in half and then turns with a smile. “I thought you said we have no titles here?”

Hyunjin looks speechless, his mind racing to come up with a clever retort. But he doesn’t get the chance because Geom finally lands in between them, and immediately sets one of Changbin’s freshly chopped logs on fire.

“Geom!” Hyunjin yells, scolding him.

“It’s okay,” Changbin says, squatting down to give the small dragon a scratch on the head. The creature leans in to the touch, his hind leg going up to scratch the air.

Changbin reaches around in the grass until he finds a stick. He waves it in front of Geom to get him excited, and then throws it away from the field. The dragon runs after it clumsily, as if he’s forgotten that he can fly.

“He likes you,” Hyunjin says, not doing a good job at hiding the surprise in his voice.

Changbin grins. “Well, I’m actually pretty likeable once you give me a chance.”

Hyunjin ignores this, and instead says, “I wish I could help out more. On the farm, or in the castle. But I’m always too exhausted. Some days I can’t even make it outside.”

This time Changbin doesn’t know what to say. He picks up his axe and polishes it with his shirt, waiting for Hyunjin to continue the conversation, if you could at least call it a conversation. 

Things were easier at home. He knew everyone in the palace, and wherever he turned there was always someone to talk with, even if it was only small talk. The workers in the palace knew him since he was born, watched him grow up, and knew that he was different from his father and his sister. 

Changbin never looked down on them, never forced them to do anything that was outside of their job description. What he got in return was wonderful friendships, people who he could just talk with about daily things, or his struggles. He knew everything about everyone back home. Asked the old ladies in the kitchen about their grandchildren, slipped the gardener an ointment that would help with his knee pain, and talked for hours with the carpenter as he repaired his bed.

In other words, Changbin is not used to the cold shoulder Hyunjin has been giving him ever since he arrived, and he honestly doesn’t know what to do about it. All he knows is that he just wants the young man to like him, see that he’s a good person.

They're gonna be stuck here together for a long time anyway. 

Hyunjin finally clears his throat. “What I’m trying to say is– thank you for helping out Minho. It means a lot to me. He’s my closest friend.”

Changbin looks up at that and swears he can see the ghost of a smile on Hyunjin’s face.

The sound of a warm laugh echoes over the field, and they both look over at the others. Minho is giggling as Jisung is imitating a rabbit, taking a large bite out of one of the freshly picked carrots, and then spitting it out again, grimacing at all the dirt he’s got in his mouth. 

The whole sight of it makes Changbin happy, and he wonders if Hyunjin has the same reaction, but when he looks to his side, he is already gone. 

* * *

“You think Hyunjin is also a witch?” Jisung wonders out loud as he draws a flower in the ground of the courtyard with his sword.

Changbin swings his sword, straining to keep his posture perfect with the way his arms hurt from all the work he’s been doing. “I don’t know, but I’m not about to ask him.” He tries not to think about it too much, ever since that one night. It’s pretty obvious there’s something up with Hyunjin, because he basically disintegrated a whole bookcase as it was about to crush him and Jisung. But Changbin doesn’t think he is a witch like Minho. There’s something different about Hyunjin, and Changbin’s gut tells him that he might be more powerful– no, more dangerous than Minho.

“Yeah, he’s not really talkative, is he? I like Geom more.” As if called, the dragon casts a small shadow over the courtyard, descending slowly to land in the dust. “Speak of the devil.”

The dragon is hiding something in his mouth, and makes excited sounds around it. He waggles towards Jisung, a tail sticking out between his sharp teeth. 

“He brought you a gift,” Changbin notes as Geom drops the dead animal in front of Jisung’s feet.

“So that’s where all the rats went.” Jisung grimaces. “No thanks, buddy. You can keep it.”

Geom turns his head in confusion, but then picks up the rat, almost choking as he tries to swallow it in one go. After finally eating the whole thing, the dragon plops down next to Jisung, his legs sticking out to the side awkwardly. 

Changbin goes back to swinging his sword as the other two watch him. It’s different, training by himself, but he can’t force Jisung to join him. It wouldn’t be much help either way, since Jisung would just complain and give up after ten minutes.

He suddenly realizes how much he misses Hangyeol. 

The man always knew how to challenge him, knew how to anticipate Changbin’s every move. It’s something you can only develop after training together for that long. Hangyeol knows him inside and out, knew all his secrets–except for one–and this makes him the best sparring partner. Changbin has always been happy to have the man on his side, and not as an opponent in an actual fight to the death, because he knows he could never win.

Changbin is so focused on his movements that he almost misses Geom chirping excitedly as Hyunjin enters the courtyard.

Hyunjin’s face is puffy and he’s wearing a blanket around his shoulders. It looks like he just woke up and Changbin can tell from his face that he isn’t particularly happy about it. Not that he’s ever seen him in a good mood to begin with.

“Why are you swinging a sword around? Who are you gonna fight?” Hyunjin asks, gesturing for Geom to come over. The creature flies across the yard and snuggles under Hyunjin’s blanket.

“It’s just practice, for fun.” Changbin swings his sword again, purposely ignoring Hyunjin’s chagrin.

“Killing people isn’t fun,” Hyunjin bites back.

Changbin lowers his sword at that, slowly understanding what’s going on. He studies the way Hyunjin is standing, shifting from one foot to the other, and realizes that he’s not being hostile. He’s uneasy. “I’ve never killed another person, nor do I plan on ever doing such a thing,” Changbin answers.

Hyunjin frowns. “But that’s all you men do, especially royalty. Killing off the weak for your own gain.”

“Not me,” Changbin raises his sword again. “It’s a sport to me, or more like, a dance–”

“A dance?” Hyunjin shrugs the blanket off his back and carefully puts Geom down. “I’m not feeling as tired today. Teach me.” 

From the corner of his eye Changbin can see Jisung smile expectantly, as if he’s entertained with how this is unfolding. He holds up his sword for Hyunjin to take. Hyunjin holds it experimentally, turning the hilt in his hand. 

He then walks up to stand across from Changbin, raising the sword inelegantly. “Well? I said teach me.”

Changbin snorts. “Are you ordering a prince?”

Hyunjin’s smile is a challenge, and Changbin finds himself blinded for a second by the sheer beauty of it. He gets a funny feeling, something telling him that this moment might be pivotal. 

Hyunjin mirrors Changbin’s posture, aura shifting into something dangerous. “I sure am.”

* * *

Hyunjin falls, his back against the ground, and drops his sword. 

“That’s enough for today,” Changbin says.

Hyunjin sits up at that, and moves his sweaty bangs out of his face. “Come on, one more round.”

Changbin chuckles at his eagerness. “You look about ready to pass out.”

Hyunjin pouts. Actually pouts at him. But Changbin isn’t swayed that easily. He sheathes his sword and puts it to the side, sitting down on the ground next to Hyunjin.

The past couple of days have been weird, but interesting. It turns out that despite Hyunjin’s constant fatigue, he’s a quick learner with even quicker reflexes. Even more admirable than that, is that he never gives up, even when Changbin almost strikes him for the hundredth time in a row. However, Hyunjin doesn’t seem to know his own physical limits, which was something Changbin learned on the first day of them practicing together when Hyunjin collapsed after two hours of sword fighting.

But Changbin is already learning to see the signs. Once Hyunjin’s hair is drenched with sweat and his cheekbones get too red, Changbin calls it quits, much to Hyunjin’s annoyance.

Hyunjin also seems to be getting more relaxed around Changbin, finally opening up a little. They make small talk about the weather in between sessions, and Changbin even gets to see his beautiful smile every now and then. However, their conversations never stray any further than that.

Until now.

“I never asked,” Hyunjin says as he peels his shirt off his sweaty skin. “Why did you two come to this island?”

Changbin swallows. He’s not sure if he wants to tell Hyunjin all the details, but he also wants to get closer to the other by letting him in. Hyunjin is letting down his own walls, so he might as well return the favor.

“The story goes that there’s a princess here, held captive by a ferocious dragon,” Changbin answers softly.

Hyunjin’s face is incredulous, and then he laughs, the sound infectious. “Neither of those things are true! So you came here to save her?”

“I did.” At least Changbin thinks he did. He’s having a hard time remembering his actual reason, other than wanting to get away from home. “My father wants me to get married. I thought this would have pleased him.”

“You don’t look like you like the idea of that,” Hyunjin says, hugging his knees.

“I swear the plan sounded great in my head.” Changbin looks to where his sword lies, the golden sheath shimmering in the sun. “I just wanted to be brave and impress him.”

“You shouldn’t live just to make your parents proud, Seo Changbin.” Hyunjin’s smile is sweet and it’s the most genuine thing Changbin has seen on the other ever since he arrived on the island. “Besides, you _ are _ brave, I’ll give you that.” Hyunjin stands, wiping the dust off his butt. “You punched my friend Jeongin in the face.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Changbin says.

“Don’t be. You were just protecting your friend.” Hyunjin holds out his hand for Changbin to take, but Changbin just stares at it. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to him.”

Changbin takes his hand and lets himself be pulled off the ground. 

He feels nervous as he follows Hyunjin through the woods to the beach. From what he’s seen in books, ocean nymphs were vicious creatures with burning eyes and rows upon rows of sharp teeth. They feasted on the flesh of fishermen, often not even finishing their meals, just hunting for sports. From what he’s seen with his own eyes, it was even worse. The image of Jisung being pulled down into the depths of the sea haunting him every night.

Hyunjin takes him to a cliff and leads him down. “This is the furthest we can go out into the sea on the island,” he says as he comes to a stop.

Changbin knows this because he’s been here many times as he tried to find a way out. But even when he tried to jump into the water from the cliff, an unseeable force stopped him every time. 

Hyunjin brings his fingers to his mouth and whistles loudly. He then sits down on the rock with his legs crossed. “Now we wait.”

Changbin doesn’t join him, anxiously peering at the water.

After a couple of minutes he sees him.

A hint of red moves in the water, much like the one he saw on the day he almost drowned. 

It comes to a stop by the edge of the cliff, and then surfaces. 

What he doesn’t expect is a beautiful young boy to pop out, hair as red as blood and eyes a piercing green. The boy smiles at Hyunjin, showing off his dimples and a set of terrifyingly sharp teeth. 

“Hyunjin!” The boy calls.

“Hey kid, how are you?” Hyunjin’s smile is fond.

The boy’s red tailfin swishes under water as he tries to stay upright. “Great! The tides are getting colder though, so there’s less food.” 

Hyunjin reaches in his pocket and the boy’s eyes twinkle. “Good thing I brought you a snack then.” Hyunjin throws him one of the nutbars Minho made this morning, and he catches it skilfully, eating it in just two bites.

Changbin shivers as he sees his teeth shimmer in the sun.

Hyunjin then points at Changbin. “This is the guy who punched you.” He laughs when Changbin jolts as he points at him. “Changbin, meet Jeongin.”

Jeongin blushes and sinks a bit lower into the water. He mumbles something but the waves drain out the sound.

“What did you say?” Hyunjin leans forward far enough until he gets stopped by the curse, seemingly not surprised by its workings anymore.

“I said,” Jeongin finally makes eye contact with Changbin, “sorry for almost eating your friend.”

He actually looks sorry, eyebrows lowered and a pout on his face, and Changbin feels the fear draining from his body. “It’s all good, don’t worry about it.” He can’t be mad or scared of this kid.

But then the kid’s eyes start glowing and his head snaps to the side. Within a second he’s out of sight, dipped underwater and swimming off to the coast. 

“Ah, he’s on the hunt,” Hyunjin says casually.

At that moment, Changbin thinks that it’s okay to still be a little scared of Jeongin.

* * *

A month passes and the nights grow colder, no longer carrying the leftover heat of the day. 

One night, when Changbin can’t sleep, his bed cold and lonely, he takes out his extra bedding from his bag. The one his mother weaved for him, the one that kept him warm and safe during their trip to the island.

A sad knot forms in his stomach as he sees that there’s a hole in it, some of the threads having unraveled during their stay on the bottom of the sea.

He pulls it over his blanket, creating an extra layer of protection against the cold, but he doesn’t manage to fall asleep. The hole in the bedding makes him uneasy, it feels wrong. So he gets up and takes it with him as he goes to the library, hoping to find a book that will tell him how to fix it. 

What he finds in the library instead is Hyunjin, sitting by the fireplace while reading a book.

He greets him with a smile. “Can’t sleep?” His face looks kind under the flames of the fire.

“No,” Changbin says as he sits down in the other chair that’s facing the fireplace. “You got any books on textiles or something? I wanna fix this.” He holds up his bedding, showing Hyunjin the hole in it.

“I don’t think so,” Hyunjin answers, touching the fabric with one finger, chasing the golden thread that forms the image of a tiger, much like Changbin has done many times before. “We have lots of spare bedding, you can just grab an extra from the basement.”

“I know, but–” Changbin pulls it closer and hugs the bedding to his chest. “This one is special. My mother made it for me.”

“Tell me about her.” Hyunjin shuts his book and puts it to the side.

Changbin stares into the fire until his eyes sting. “She’s everything to me. Sometimes I feel like she’s the only one in my family who sees me for who I am, and–” Changbin swallows, unconsciously covering himself with the bedding. “I don’t know why she’s with such a– a cruel man like my father, but sometimes I’m happy that she is. Without her consult, the country would be in constant war.”

He looks to the side to see if Hyunjin is still listening, and finds that he’s staring into the fire like Changbin was earlier, the look on his face thoughtful.

Changbin softly chuckles to himself. “One time, when I was five, and my father was fighting a battle across the border, she took me to the throne room at night. It was way past my bedtime and all the servants were sleeping, so we had the room all to ourselves. She put my father's crown on my head and allowed me to sit on the throne.” Changbin smiles at the memory. “It was too big for my head, so it kept sliding off, but I loved it. I felt like the king of the world that night.”

“Do you wish to be?” Hyunjin asks, turning to look at him.

“Huh?” Changbin looks up, snapping out of his memory.

“King,” Hyunjin says. “Do you wish to be king?”

“I– I don’t know.” Changbin looks down at the image of his family’s crest staring back at him from the bedding.

“Your mother sounds sweet,” Hyunjin says, as he holds out his hand, gesturing for Changbin to give him the bedding. Changbin holds it up in between them and watches as Hyunjin runs his finger over it again.

The fire next to them surges violently, increasing in heat, and Changbin watches in amazement as the threads of the bedding start to move, slowly weaving themselves into place again. Hyunjin spreads his hand, holding it over what’s left of the hole, and then brings it back down. Once he lifts it again, there’s no hole to be seen. The bedding looks exactly like it did the day Changbin left the capital.

Changbin’s jaw drops as the fire in the fireplace simmers back to normal again. He’s unable to form any words, not even a thanks, but he doesn’t need to because Hyunjin is the one to speak.

His smile is wistful, as he says, “Your mother, I hope to meet her one day.”

* * *

“Bullseye.” The point of Hyunjin’s sword stops in front of Changbin’s throat, a short distance from his aorta.

“Wrong sport,” Changbin hooks his foot behind Hyunjin’s ankle, “but I appreciate the effort.”

With one swift movement he has Hyunjin toppling over, falling to the ground.

“Not fair!” Hyunjin whines, rubbing at his butt.

“You think you can beat the second best swordsman of the country after two months of training?” Changbin squats down next to him and flicks his forehead. “Think again.”

Changbin easily dodges the flame coming from Hyunjin’s right hand, already used to his magic. It leaves his ear burning as it flies past his face. 

“Now that’s unfair!” Changbin rubs his ear, trying to get the heat out.

Hyunjin shrugs, his cheeky smile borderline provocative. 

Changbin is about to pull him up for another fight when a small bird lands on Hyunjin’s shoulder.

Hyunjin doesn’t seem surprised at the tiny sparrow, and moves his head closer to the bird as it chirps in his ear. His eyes widen and a big smile appears on his face. “We got a visitor!” He jumps up and grabs Changbin’s hand, dragging him along.

Changbin stumbles after him as they run to the beach, not yet familiar with the tricky paths of the forest that surrounds the valley. His mind is going a thousand miles per hour at what Hyunjin might mean with ‘a visitor’. Did someone wash up on shore like he and Jisung did? Were they alive, or did Jeongin get to them?

When they arrive at the beach, he’s greeted by a familiar face.

“You,” Changbin hisses. 

“Yes, me! I see that you didn’t heed my warning, Seo Changbin,” Chan says as he climbs out his boat, pulling a heavy bag along.

“Chan!” Hyunjin holds his arms wide as Chan walks up on the beach, wrapping him in a tight hug. “Long time no see.”

Changbin panics, because Chan is on the island. Which means he’s stuck here now too, and Changbin is not excited to be spending the rest of his time here with the other man. But why doesn’t Hyunjin seem bothered by this?

“Yeah, we’ve been busy.” Chan smacks himself against the head. “Shit, I almost forgot something.”

Chan walks back towards the water, where his boat is and– walks straight through the invisible border that surrounds the island. He rummages around in the boat and pulls out two bottles with a dark liquid in them.

“Aw, Chan, you shouldn’t have,” Hyunjin says.

“Wait, why the fuck can he go into the water?” Changbin asks Hyunjin, but Chan answers instead.

“Oh, Changbin. No curse is strong enough to stop me from visiting my friends,” Chan grins, but it only annoys Changbin.

Hyunjin puts his hand on Changbin’s shoulder and then whispers, “Don’t ask, okay? You might not like the answers.”

Chan flashes him that wide smile again, and suddenly Changbin’s mind is back to that night at the campfire, Chan’s eyes dark and the flames of the raging fire licking at his face.

The conditions of the curse, the one sentence that Minho told him, sounds through his head.

_ No living being shall leave the island. _

* * *

Changbin quickly explains the situation to Jisung, but his friend doesn’t seem shocked at Chan’s ability to come and go as he pleases. If so, he’s more annoyed at the fact that he didn’t bring Felix.

“Felix is playing around with Jeongin at the mainland beach,” Chan explains for the third time.

“Well, you could’ve just brought him anyways and left him in the boat or something. This sucks.” Jisung mopes.

“He told me to bring you this,” Chan says as he holds up a shiny red apple.

Jisung takes it and his frown immediately disappears as he takes a bite.

Minho is as excited to see Chan as Hyunjin was. Chan gives him a bag, and Minho looks through it, his face delighted. It’s filled with seeds, ranging from foreign fruit trees to weird crops Changbin doesn’t know the name of. He trusts Minho to grow them into delicious foods for many meals to come.

They spend the afternoon in the castle, lazily enjoying the delicious dinner Minho prepared while catching up. After they finish dinner, they make their way to the beach again. Changbin carries as many logs as he can, while Jisung brings Minho’s home brewed prune wine. Geom sits on Chan’s shoulder, picking at his hair and getting his teeth stuck in his curls. 

They build the biggest campfire Changbin has ever seen, and when Hyunjin lights it with his hands, Changbin is sure the townspeople at the coast can see it. 

Despite the late autumn air being cold, it’s warm next to the fire. Hyunjin’s fires always seem to burn hotter, warming up your bones without burning the skin. Changbin and Jisung sip on their prune wine, and Changbin doesn’t miss the fond look on Minho’s face as Jisung hiccups.

Chan pulls out one of the bottles from before, pouring him and Hyunjin a glass of the dark liquid. Changbin holds out his glass, since he’s curious about the taste of it, but Hyunjin shakes his head.

“This stuff would send you to an early grave, Changbin,” Hyunjin says as he takes a big sip of the stuff, cheeks instantly gaining color.

Changbin is about to complain, but then Geom walks straight into the fire, to take out a burning log to play with, sending sparks flying all over them. Hyunjin holds out his arm to shield Changbin from them, but one flies past and burns a hole in his pants right above his knee.

He cusses as he slaps at it, to prevent his entire pants from burning. But then Hyunjin puts his hand over it, pulling the heat from his skin, making the pain disappear instantly.

“Thanks,” Changbin whispers, a bit shocked. What even were the limits of Hyunjin’s powers?

“It’s the least I can do,” Hyunjin whispers back, taking another sip from his drink, his cheeks now fully flushed and eyes heavy lidded.

Chan clears his throat. “I traveled past the One in the North last month,” he says, and Changbin can feel Hyunjin stiffen next to him. “She’s getting weaker now.”

Hyunjin empties his glass. “I don’t care.”

“I’ve done some research, and–” Chan holds out the bottle to refill Hyunjin’s glass, but Hyunjin shakes his head. “And I think there’s a chance that the curse might lift once I kill her.”

“Don’t.” Hyunjin speaks the words like it’s an order.

Chan frowns. “Come on, Jinnie. It’s worth a shot. If anyone’s got a chance of taking her out, it’s me. We’ve been over this.”

“We’ve been over this and agreed you would stay out of it.” The campfire surges as Hyunjin raises his voice. “What if she puts a curse on you too? You think I can live with that?” Hyunjin’s voice breaks at the last word.

Minho stares into the fire, face grim, and Jisung is looking between Chan and Hyunjin trying to figure out what the hell they’re talking about.

“You can’t stop me from trying to save you.” Chan speaks the words softly, but it’s enough for Hyunjin to get up on his feet, go over and grab him by the collar. 

Hyunjin pulls him up by his shirt, the smoke escaping his hands as the fabric burns under his grip. “Tell me you won’t go to her. Promise me.” He shakes Chan, and suddenly Changbin notices Hyunjin is crying, chest shaking as he screams the words in Chan’s face. “Fucking promise me, Chan.”

Chan keeps his mouth shut, his face showing that he has already made his decision.

As Hyunjin storms off, the fire goes out, leaving nothing but glowing embers.

* * *

Changbin doesn’t know what he was thinking when he ran after Hyunjin, but he knows it was the right thing to do when he finds Hyunjin sobbing against his bedroom door. 

He kneels down and puts his hand on his knee, but Hyunjin doesn’t look up, keeping his face buried in his hands.

“Don’t cry,” Changbin says weakly, because he doesn’t know what else to say. He feels so lost, not even understanding one bit of what happened earlier, but all he knows is that he hates seeing Hyunjin like this.

Hyunjin sniffs. “I’m so fucking tired,” he says, words muffled by his hands.

“Do you wanna go to bed?” Changbin asks, rubbing soothing circles into Hyunjin’s knees.

Hyunjin laughs bitterly, because that’s clearly not what he meant when he said he was tired, but then he nods, sniffing again.

Changbin pulls Hyunjin up by his hands and guides him into his room, Hyunjin swaying a bit by his side. He doesn’t know what was in that drink he drank, but Changbin knows he himself could use a glass of the same shit by now. 

He then realizes he’s never been in Hyunjin’s bedroom before. The room isn’t lit, so he only has the moonlight that shines through the window to show him where he’s going. It’s not unlike his own room, only bigger and somehow less cold.

Hyunjin drops himself on his bed and groans into the pillow. Slowly, he turns onto his back. Changbin averts his eyes as Hyunjin clumsily kicks off his pants. He then crawls under the covers and pulls them up all the way to his nose.

Changbin feels awkward just standing there, so he is about to leave, but Hyunjin’s voice stops him.

“Do you know why Jeongin almost killed you?” 

Changbin turns, because that sure got his attention.

Hyunjin’s eyelids are heavy from sleepiness. “Because I told him to. No one deserves this awful fate. Being stuck on this island, with no way out. It’s torture.”

Changbin comes closer and sits on the bed, heavy words sinking in. Hyunjin blinks slowly, his eyes on Changbin as they slowly close.

“You really think dying is better than this?” Changbin asks, the disbelief in his voice.

Hyunjin slowly shakes his head. “I don’t think it, I know it, since I’ve done both.”

Changbin’s eyes widen as the meaning of the words settle in, but before he can ask, Hyunjin is already fast asleep.

* * *

The autumn sun hangs low on the horizon, coating the beach in an orange glow. 

Changbin hasn’t been able to sleep one bit, so he was awake when he heard the castle’s gates being pushed open at the crack of dawn.

He followed Chan to the beach, sneaking after him like a ghost, careful not to get caught. He wanted to have this conversation as far away from the castle as possible.

“Leaving already?” he asks, watching Chan load his bags into the boat.

Chan doesn’t look surprised to see him. “I think I overstayed my welcome.” Chan drops his bags and runs a hand through his hair, tidying the dark messy curls. “You come with many questions, but I won’t be able to answer them all, my prince.”

Changbin gets a sour taste at the title, the word almost sounds mocking from Chan’s lips. He swallows the taste away. “What are you? Why are you able to come and go? The curse–”

“The curse only applies to the living. And I am neither alive nor dead,” Chan says the words matter of factly as he stares across the water. “It’s like this moment, the sun stuck between day and night.” 

That doesn’t answer Changbin’s question, but he honestly doesn’t want to know any more. Somehow, Chan terrifies him, ever since the moment he met him he could feel there was something so fundamentally _ wrong _about him. Maybe Hyunjin was right, maybe Changbin doesn’t want to know all the answers.

Hyunjin.

“What about Hyunjin. Last night–” Changbin thinks back to how he sat next to a sleeping Hyunjin for at least an hour, contemplating to wake him up so he could explain what he said. The only thing that stopped him was how peaceful Hyunjin looked while sleeping, the worry on his face finally gone. “Last night he told me he died once.”

“That’s correct, but Hyunjin is very much alive.” Chan comes closer, and Changbin instinctively moves back a little. “Can’t you feel it? The warmth he emits? I envy it sometimes.” Chan kicks at the sand between them. “But those are his secrets to share, not mine. We all got our secrets, don’t we, Seo Changbin?”

Changbin shivers at Chan’s knowing smile. “You creep me the fuck out.”

Chan laughs. “I get that a lot. You’ll get used to me, eventually. There’s scarier stuff out there.” Chan puts his hands in his pockets, the rising sun shining through his hair like a halo. “Ask me your final question.”

Changbin wonders if he can trust this man. Hyunjin seems to consider him a friend, so he might be reliable. Also, Changbin is desperate. “My mother. She doesn’t know I’m still alive.” Changbin looks across the water at the small town that lies on the coast. “Also my horse. A farmer by the main road is taking care of him. Could you tell him I’ll come back for him?”

“Sure thing.” Chan grins to himself. “I require payment though.”

Changbin expected as much. “I have gold back at the castle, I’ll give you as much–”

Chan’s eyes go dark. “Your soul.”

Changbin freezes, all color disappearing from his face.

Chan snorts and then laughs with his entire body, grabbing at his stomach as his shoulders shake. “I’m fucking with you. Of course I will, anything for a friend.” Chan holds out his hand as an offer.

As he fights the urge to punch the other man, Changbin wipes the cold sweat off his palm and shakes Chan’s hand. 

His knees still shake from fear as he watches Chan’s boat disappear in the distance.

* * *

“What the fuck is that on your head?” Changbin asks as soon as he enters the kitchen.

Jisung is sitting by the fire with a cloth around his neck, his hair coated in an orange substance, combed back against his scalp. Minho stands behind him, hands hovering over Jisung’s head.

“Uhm, well there’s–” Jisung starts counting on his fingers, “lemon, turmeric, frog poison, ginger, ash from Hyunjin’s fire, carrot–” He looks up at Minho, a question in his eyes.

“You forgot fish guts and vinegar,” Minho adds.

“We’re making my hair orange,” Jisung says, eyes excited, “with magic!”

“I don’t know how orange it’ll be,” Minho says as he runs his fingers through Jisung’s sticky hair, checking the progress, “I can only do so much. It all depends on how much magic you got in that big head of yours.” Minho slaps the back of Jisung’s head, the sound wet.

“Hey!” Jisung rubs at his head, a grin taking over his annoyed face as he sees Minho’s cheeky smile.

Changbin feels like he’s interrupting a private moment, but he can’t leave just yet. He hopes Minho can answer some of his questions. But he knows Minho won’t tell him anything about Hyunjin, so he asks about him instead.

“Minho, how did you get on this island?” Changbin asks casually as he takes a slice of freshly baked bread from the countertop, munching on it slowly.

“With a boat.” Minho answers, a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth as he washes some of the apples Chan brought.

Changbin rolls his eyes. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

He slices one of the apples and pushes it Changbin’s way, urging him to eat it. “I was just a young witch, looking for a place to settle. My coven got killed by the king at the time, so I was all alone. I passed by this island and felt the overwhelming energy radiate from it. I couldn’t stay away, and as soon as I landed on the shore, I was stuck.” Minho smiles bitterly. “But you know about that part.”

Changbin wants to ask how long ago this was, since he doesn’t remember his father ever ordering to kill any witches. Still, he wouldn’t put it past him. He wants to apologize to Minho anyway, but Jisung already jumps on the next topic.

“And Geom? Did he fly here or was he already here?” Jisung asks.

“Oh no, Geom wasn’t born yet.” Minho bends his knees and takes a head of garlic out of the cupboard. Changbin jolts as Minho crushes it on a cutting board with the back of his knife. “I made him.”

Changbin frowns. As far as he knows, dragons aren’t made by witches. “What do you mean?” 

“Found some old spells in a book, took an egg from a lizard, and planted it right outside.” Minho points out the window with his knife at a spot next to an old oak tree. “Hyunjin and I built a fire on top of it, and had it burn for exactly thirty three days.”

Jisung’s eyes widen. “That is so cool.”

Minho smiles fondly, his eyes still focused on the patch of scorched soil outside. “It’s my first creation, so he’s a bit– special. But we love him to death.”

Changbin wonders what else Minho can do. Giving life to something, especially something as magnificent as a dragon, that must require a lot of power. 

“Hey, Minho,” Jisung says, voice a bit stressed as he points to his head, “is my hair supposed to smoke?”

Minho turns and his eyes widen, and Changbin realizes he has never seen Minho this thrown off guard before. His face then changes, an entertained smile appearing. 

“Oh wow,” Minho’s eyes twinkle with joy, “I’m gonna have so much fun with you, little magic boy.”

* * *

From the library’s window, Changbin watches Jisung in the courtyard. His friend is sitting with his legs crossed, staring at the ground in front of him. There's a leaf on the ground, dried up and brown from the autumn weather. Minho is sitting across from him, speaking so softly that Changbin can’t hear him.

“Are you spying on our friends?” Hyunjin’s voice makes Changbin jump.

“Not spying. I just don’t want to interrupt them,” Changbin says as Hyunjin appears next to him, leaning on the window sill. “Haven’t seen you in a couple of days,” Changbin says, noting the dark circles under Hyunjin’s eyes.

“I’ve been sleeping.” Hyunjin heaves a big sigh. “And thinking.”

Changbin is about to ask him what’s been on his mind, but then Jisung shrieks outside, holding up the leaf in front of Minho’s face. The tip of the leaf has turned green. Minho praises him by ruffling Jisung’s now orange hair.

Changbin chuckles at the sight, feeling proud of his best friend. “Am I the only one who can’t do magic around here, or what?” he asks to no one in particular.

“It’s good to be normal,” Hyunjin answers, his chin resting on his hand as he watches the scene outside. “I miss it.”

“You weren’t always like this?” Changbin turns to Hyunjin. 

“I was human once, before I– changed.” Hyunjin slowly closes his eyes, face serene. “I grew up as a shrine keeper a long time ago and all I had to worry about was my daily tasks. It was so rewarding to keep the shrine pretty and clean, and to take care of the offerings the villagers made. Life was so simple.” Hyunjin smiles softly at the memory.

“What happened?” Changbin speaks the question softly, the sound almost disappearing into the air between them. 

Hyunjin’s face goes sour, and Changbin wishes he hadn’t asked. Moments like these were so rare, moments of seeing Hyunjin with no worries, of him talking to him without care. And he’d gone and ruined it. 

Hyunjin’s smile is gone when he answers.

“Love happened.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter: ~~feelings~~~~


	4. Lifebringer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changbin is in love with Hyunjin. 
> 
> Changbin is also an idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello this is my fave chapter. also notice how the chapter count went up? :)

“Ha!” Hyunjin gloats as Changbin’s sword falls to the ground, knocked right out of his hand.

It’s getting colder now, so Changbin partly blames his mistake on his hands freezing around the hilt of his sword. That, and the fact that Hyunjin is improving scarily fast.

“How are you so good at this?” Jisung whines from the sidelines. “I can’t even hold a sword properly.”

Minho sits next to him, skillfully peeling some beets with a knife, his fingers stained red. “Maybe it’s not the weapon for you, Jisung,” he supplies. “Wait,” he says, as he drops his knife in the pot in front of him, and disappears into the castle through a door on the other end of the courtyard.

Changbin picks up his sword and sheathes it, ignoring Hyunjin’s smug look. Hyunjin seemed to be more energetic these days, no longer collapsing after two hours of practice. Hell, he even seems to have more stamina than Changbin now.

Minho returns with his hands full. He drops a large wooden box at the end of the courtyard, and then walks across towards the old oak tree, a circular item under his arm. Jisung watches him curiously as Minho pins a target on the tree trunk.

Minho returns to his box and takes out a bow and arrows. Skillfully, he draws the string, closes one eye, and releases. He hits the target dead in the middle. 

Changbin tries to hide his smile at Jisung’s awed face.

“Give it a try, Jisung,” Minho says as he holds up the bow for Jisung to take.

Jisung skips over excitedly, wasting no time taking the bow and trying to draw the string.

Minho gives him an arrow. “Your posture is all wrong. Here, let me help.” Minho stands behind Jisung and straightens his back. He puts his hand on the one holding the bow, aiming it at the target. His other hand finds Jisung’s elbow, guiding the arm that is pulling the string. He rests his face next to Jisung’s, quietly whispering something.

Jisung’s cheeks turn red and he visibly shakes.

Hyunjin moves to stand next to Changbin, and leans down to whisper, “You see what’s happening between them? I’m not the only one seeing this, right?” The words leave goosebumps on Changbin’s neck as Hyunjin’s breath touches his skin. 

To be honest, it’s hard to miss. The way Jisung and Minho had gotten close so quickly after them arriving on the island. Jisung’s respect and admiration for Minho obvious every time Changbin found him staring at the other. It was also obvious that Minho knows what’s going on, with the way his touches on Jisung linger too long to be casual, and how he always brings food to Jisung first, filling up his plate with more food than the other could eat. Minho is always giving Jisung a taste of what he could have, of what could be, but never more than that.

Changbin’s mind wanders, Hyunjin’s presence next to him hard to tune out, the energy from his body radiating like warmth. Is Hyunjin okay with what’s happening between their friends? Since he was the first to speak on it, he should be, right? Changbin chews on his lip, because he wants to tell Hyunjin that he’s been noticing it too, that he loves seeing their relationship unfold in front of him, but he’s afraid. 

He’s never talked about these things out loud with anyone but Jisung.

But then Minho whispers something into Jisung’s ear that’s just too much for the guy, and Jisung turns to look at him, releasing his grip on the arrow in the process.

Hyunjin ducks and shoves Changbin to the side, barely avoiding being hit by the arrow that shoots past his head.

“Shit, I’m so sorry!” Jisung yells.

Hyunjin waves his hands in front of him. “It’s okay.”

Jisung shakes his head. “But I could have killed you!” 

“No, silly!” Hyunjin laughs. “You would have to put a seriously strong spell on the arrow if you want to kill me with something like that.” 

Changbin’s heart is still beating in his throat as he leans down to pick up the arrow from the ground where it bounced off the castle wall. 

He flinches as he touches it, dropping it immediately. Changbin turns his hand only to find a scorch mark where the arrow has burned his skin.

* * *

There’s a dragon in the capital.

The words pull Changbin from his bed, sounding through his head like a chant. He finds himself back home in the palace he grew up in. He doesn’t question how he got there, just gets up, finds his shoes and makes his way down the hallways.

In the palace’s garden he finds the dragon, stepping on the flowers, crushing them under his weight, leaving a trace of smoke wherever he goes.

Changbin tries to scream, to tell it to go away, but a hand on his shoulder stops him.

The touch calms him down, so familiar, so welcome. His mother always managed to ground him like that.

“Beautiful,” his mother says next to him, a soft smile on her face, staring off into the distance. Changbin doesn’t know if she’s referring to the dragon or something else.

“Changbin,” Hyunjin’s voice calls him and he turns at the sound. Hyunjin stands on the palace steps, clad in gold and a burning arrow in his hand. Changbin tries to speak, to tell him to drop the arrow since the skin of Hyunjin’s hand is shriveling up around it, but he can’t. It feels like he’s back on the island, an unseeable force preventing him from doing anything. 

Hyunjin’s lips move again. 

_ “Changbin, wake up.” _

His eyes open slowly, blinking up at the shadow of a figure hanging over him, shaking at his shoulders.

A dream. Of course it was. He’s still on the island.

“Wake up.” Hyunjin’s voice is urgent.

“What’s going on?” Changbin asks, voice hoarse. The room is dark, so it’s still the middle of the night.

“Come with me, I have to show you something.” And with that, Hyunjin disappears out of sight.

Still sleepy, Changbin somehow manages to put on some clothes, following after Hyunjin in a daze. He’s taken his mother’s bedding with him, wrapped around his shoulders to shield him from the cold that lingers in the castle’s hallways.

Hyunjin takes him down to the front door, where Geom is bouncing excitedly, waiting for him to open it. Hyunjin’s eyes are glued to Changbin, waiting for his reaction as he pushes both doors open.

The entire island is shrouded in a white blanket.

Geom runs out, breathing out fire at the snowflakes that are peacefully drizzling down, melting them mid-air.

“Beautiful,” Hyunjin says, and then turns to Changbin, “right?”

Changbin only nods, completely in awe at the sight before him, the cold wind freezing his face as it blows past him. There’s snow everywhere, beautiful perfect hills of snow covering the familiar landscape, the only hints of green being the trees in the distance. 

Hyunjin pulls on his elbow. “Come on, let’s go.”

Changbin is hesitant, hugging his blanket tighter around him. “But it’s cold.”

Hyunjin peels the blanket from Changbin’s freezing fingers, and moves under it, so that it’s wrapped around both of them now. “I’ll keep you warm.”

And with that, Changbin immediately warms up. Hyunjin body is like a fire, warming his bones as he walks next to him in the snow, shoulders pressed close to one another. Unconsciously, he presses himself even closer to Hyunjin, chasing the heat. He realizes that he’s never noticed just how good the other smells, like pinewood and primrose, and something else.

They walk through the snow, the crisp sound of Changbin’s shoes echoing through the silence. It’s like he’s in a dream again, Hyunjin humming an unfamiliar tune next to him.

Hyunjin abandons him way too quickly, ducking out from under the bedding and leaving Changbin to soak in the heat he’s left behind.

His friend runs ahead towards the middle of the valley, and Changbin finally notices the other is barefeet, his footsteps showing the grass as they melt the layer of snow that was hiding the greenery. 

Hyunjin spins in the snow, holding out his hands to catch the snowflakes, giggling as they instantly melt on his hands.

Changbin is reminded of what Chan told him, of how _ alive _ Hyunjin is. He can feel it now, the life and heat radiating off the other, can feel it even over the distance between them. 

“Beautiful,” Changbin whispers and his words get lost in the cold winter wind.

In that moment he vows that no matter what, no matter how, he will get Hyunjin off this island.

* * *

Winter passes slowly, but it’s okay. Changbin doesn’t want it to ever end.

Most of his days are spent in the library, sitting by the fire as Hyunjin reads a book next to him. Since it’s too cold for sword fighting, Changbin has taken on another hobby, something to keep his hands busy. 

He’s on his third woodcarving, getting better by the day. Geom sleeps in his lap, every now and then waking up to chew on the wood shavings Changbin drops on his head. Changbin focuses not to cut his fingers as the sharp knife slides over the piece of wood in his hand, slowly taking the shape of a bear.

Every now and then, Hyunjin puts his book to the side and just watches Changbin work with lidded eyes, before eventually snoozing off, overpowered by the heat of the fire and the calming mood of winter. 

One morning, when he enters the library, Hyunjin is nowhere to be found. The two armchairs by the fireplace are now pushed together, and the fire is still burning. Changbin doesn’t move them back to their original place, instead he just sits in the one on the right, the one he has claimed for himself.

Later, when Hyunjin finally joins him, he doesn’t comment on the chairs either, just sits down and continues his book. Changbin has a hard time focusing after that, his knife almost slipping from his hand every now and then. He peers to the side, trying to see whatever Hyunjin is reading.

The heat of Hyunjin’s shoulder pulls him closer, simply irresistible as a cold draft blows past Changbin’s neck. Hyunjin chuckles softly as Changbin finally loses the battle against temptation and puts his head on Hyunjin’s shoulder, slowly drifting off. 

He finally realizes that Hyunjin smells like pinewood, primrose, and home.

* * *

“Hurry up!” Jisung calls as he skips towards the field, stopping at a spot where the spring sun has melted the snow.

Hyunjin and Changbin track behind slowly, both annoyed at being woken up this early. Minho walks beside them with a proud and knowing smile, eyes on Jisung.

“Look,” Jisung says as they catch up. He kneels down in the grass and puts his hand on the ground. Geom lands next to him, his head cocking curiously at whatever Jisung is doing.

Jisung closes his eyes and whispers a few words.

Changbin inches forward to get a better look at what he’s doing, but Hyunjin pulls him back, silently telling him to keep his distance.

Jisung then opens his eyes, blinking slowly. Eagerly he quickly pulls his hand away. From the ground shoots a flower, growing from a seed into maturity within a mere second.

“I did it!” He holds up his fists to the air.

Minho smiles widely, before whispering, “Lifebringer.”

Geom bites down and eats the flower in one bite.

“Geom, give it back!” Jisung yells as he tackles the dragon, playfully rolling around in the grass with him until he coughs up an already half digested slimey flower.

Fortunately, it’s not the last flower Jisung brings to life.

After a couple of hours, they sit in the damp grass with a pile of them. There’s roses and daffodils, and even flowers that didn’t exist until now. Minho teaches them how to link the flowers together, forming them into a chain. 

Changbin chooses the prettiest ones only, and works carefully not to break them as he makes them into a ring. He chuckles as he puts the crown on Hyunjin’s head, marveling at how pretty it looks. But the flowers are nothing compared to Hyunjin’s beauty.

Hyunjin offers him a quiet thanks, the smile on his face sad.

They leave Jisung and Minho after that, giving them some privacy. Their friends don’t even notice them leave, too wrapped up in their shenanigans of trying to find out just how crazy Jisung’s flowers can get.

Hyunjin is quiet on their way back to the castle, mind elsewhere. 

They finally bring their swords outside again, after taking a long break from practice during the winter. Changbin’s muscles feel tight, no longer used to swinging the heavy sword in his hand.

Hyunjin is also not as fluent as he used to be, but Changbin can tell that their winter break isn’t the cause. When Changbin disarms Hyunjin for the tenth time, he calls him out for it.

“Your head isn’t in it,” he says, trying not to sound too stern.

Hyunjin is quiet again, his eyes on the ground. He turns the sword in his hand as he thinks, and then he finally speaks. “You and Jisung shouldn’t be here.”

Changbin frowns as he tries to catch his breath, breathing out clouds of steam against the cold spring air. “Huh?”

“You two could be doing so much good in the world, and yet–” Hyunjin stares across the courtyard where three arrows are jammed into the bullseye of a target. “You’re stuck here with me.”

“Don’t say that.” Changbin hates that Hyunjin feels that way. Of course Changbin would rather be free to go wherever he wants, but he’s not having a bad time on the island. Quite the opposite actually. “I like it here. Besides, Jisung would have never discovered his powers out there in the real world.” _ And I wouldn’t have met you, _ is what he doesn’t say.

Hyunjin huffs at that, staring at his reflection in the sword’s blade.

Changbin then says, “I feel like there’s a reason why we’re here. Feel like it’s fate.”

Hyunjin’s head snaps up at this. He raises his sword and gets back into starting position. 

Changbin is about to ask if he’s finally ready for some serious training, when Hyunjin’s sword is already swinging in the direction of his neck.

Of course, Changbin skilfully dodges, already used to Hyunjin’s bold opening moves. But what he doesn’t expect is for Hyunjin to turn and strike again, this time his sword almost in Changbin’s side before he manages to block it with his own, metal clinking together as they meet halfway.

Hyunjin’s eyes are dark as he puts his full weight into it, pushing Changbin back, his feet almost slipping in the dust.

With all his strength, Changbin raises his sword and manages to throw Hyunjin off, buying some time to collect himself. But before he can, Hyunjin is charging at him again, this time with a move he’s never seen before.

Hyunjin puts his right foot forward and Changbin readies himself for a blow, only for Hyunjin to fake a strike, and instead choosing to kick Changbin in the ankle.

Surprised, Changbin falls, the back of his head hitting the ground painfully.

Hyunjin sticks his sword into the ground next to Changbin’s head, only a short distance of his ear. The hilt sizzles as it glows red. “Fuck fate,” Hyunjin spits, before he walks away, leaving Changbin in the dust. 

* * *

Changbin lowers himself into the bath, wincing as the heat licks at the bruise that’s already forming on his ankle.

He doesn’t know why Hyunjin got so upset earlier, but he can’t help but feel like he’s responsible for it. His friendship with Hyunjin is still so fragile, so new, and he doesn’t know what boundaries he can and can’t push with him.

But still, there were no lies in the things he said. He truly believes there’s a reason why he and Jisung came here, something more than their silly adventure of rescuing a princess. He guesses that only time can tell if he’s right about this.

He grabs for the knife that he’s put on the floor before he went into the bath. During the winter he truly let himself go, neglected grooming his face. Even his hair is getting longer now, often getting in his eyes as it grew past his eyebrows. 

He lowers the blade when he hears the door open. “Can I join you?” Hyunjin asks softly, looking small in the door opening. 

“Sure,” Changbin says, and he averts his eyes as Hyunjin undresses.

Hyunjin wraps a towel around his waist and kneels down on the floor next to the bath, carefully taking the knife from Changbin’s hand. “Let me,” he says.

Changbin sinks lower into the bath, suddenly shy with how Hyunjin is looking down at him. He curses the way the bath is submerged into the ground like a pool, since it leaves no place for him to hide his body. Hyunjin’s eyes fall on Changbin’s bruised ankle. He takes a deep breath, and then looks away.

“Sorry for being so childish earlier,” Hyunjin says as he takes Changbin’s head in his lap, “in my defense, I was only nineteen when I died.”

Changbin lets his head rest on Hyunjin’s thighs, and tries not to react too much to the shocking words.

Hyunjin takes some of the oil out of the vial that’s next to him, and doesn’t even have to warm it up before he spreads it on Changbin’s skin, his hands naturally warm.

“Like I’ve told you before, I used to work as a shrine keeper,” Hyunjin slides the blade against his cheek, and Changbin closes his eyes, trusting Hyunjin not to cut him, “our shrine honored the Deity of the South. He protected us from forest fires and kept us warm in winter as long as people brought him offerings.”

Hyunjin’s voice echoes in the steamy room as he continues shaving Changbin, working diligently and carefully. “I was only sixteen when the deity first appeared before me. In hindsight it's obvious what his intentions were, but I was so naive. I felt so special to be able to see him, took his favoritism as an honor.”

Hyunjin gently moves Changbin’s head to the side, to get better access to his throat. “I didn’t know that he was already betrothed to the Deity of the North, hell, I didn’t even realize he was courting me before it was already too late.” The blade glides over Changbin’s thrumming aorta.

“She, the Northern deity, visited in human form, as a merchant. She sold my father the most delicious steamed buns I have ever tasted.” He turns Changbin’s head to the other side, continuing his work. “My mother, father, me, and my younger sister all died quickly from the poison. Thank the heavens that we died without any pain or suffering.”

Changbin swallows and Hyunjin pulls his blade away to avoid cutting his adam’s apple as it bobs.

“Our deity hadn’t noticed his lover’s scheme, only found out after. Time works differently in the other realm, you know?” Hyunjin puts the knife down and reaches into the bath, filling his palms with warm water to rinse Changbin’s face. “I know he didn’t love me, not truly, but he still made the ultimate sacrifice and transferred his divinity to my already cold body.”

Hyunjin takes more oil from the bottle and massages it into Changbin’s now smooth skin. “While he died in the process, I woke up in my grave. It took me a month to figure out my new powers and dig myself out of there.” Hyunjin takes Changbin’s cheeks in his hands and squeezes them, urging him to open his eyes. Hyunjin’s smile is sweet when they make eye contact. “So you might understand why I don’t enjoy being stuck here. This island is like my own personal grave.”

He lifts Changbin’s head from his lap and stands, tossing his towel to the side. Unbothered by the heat, he quickly slides into the bath, sitting across from Changbin.

Changbin’s mind feels as foggy as the room is. 

He goes over the story in his head, and everything clicks. The way Hyunjin acts, why it pissed him off so much when Changbin suggested he didn’t mind being here on the island. 

Changbin watches Hyunjin as he gracefully washes himself, his hands sliding over his arms, leaving drops of water on his skin, shimmering like beads. 

The realization suddenly hits that Hyunjin is a deity. 

Nothing has ever made more sense to Changbin.

There’s only one part that Hyunjin hasn’t mentioned. “The curse–”

Hyunjin rests his arms on the edge of the bath and leans back with his eyes closed. “She found out I was still alive– no, not still, again.” Hyunjin chuckles to himself. “I came here to hide, hoping the home of my ancestors would keep me safe. But she had me right where she wanted me to be, and locked me in.”

Changbin stares down at where his fists are clenched under water. “Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because I trust you,” Hyunjin says as he moves a finger through the air, his hand glowing as he reshapes the steam into the image of a dragon. “You would be a great king, Changbin. That’s why it’s a shame you’re stuck here.”

“We’ll get out of here, I just know it.” Changbin says the words as if they’re the truth.

Hyunjin huffs before he smiles. “I doubt it.”

* * *

The rock Jisung throws hits directly between Jeongin’s eyes. “Ten points for me!”

“That’s not how it works!” Jeongin rubs at his forehead. “It’s five points for the head.”

“What are you gonna do? Bite me?” Jisung turns and shows Jeongin his butt, slapping it provocatively.

“I’m glad they’re finally getting along,” Minho says as he watches them play.

Changbin hums in agreement.

Jisung and Jeongin have been going at their little rock game for an hour now, and neither of them seem to be tiring out any time soon. Changbin chuckles as he sees Jeongin disappear underwater, only to return with a new rock a minute later and hurling it at Jisung, who is still mocking him on the cliff.

Changbin and Minho chose to keep out of it, sitting in the grass, watching them from a safe distance. 

Minho opens his bag and pulls out a peach, offering it to Changbin. He gladly takes it. The island’s peaches are the most delicious thing he’s ever eaten, almost the size of his hand and yet so sweet and juicy.

“Hyunjin said he told you everything,” Minho says as he peels an orange.

“Yeah,” Changbin takes a bite from the peach, “it was quite shocking.”

“What? That he’s a god? I thought you’d guessed as much with the way you’re always staring at him,” Minho teases.

Changbin wipes the peach juices from his mouth and rubs it off on Minho’s sleeve. The other watches him do it and only shrugs, not seeming to care one bit.

“I bet he left out an important detail, though,” Minho says, tossing his orange peels behind him into the forest, returning it to nature. “Did he tell you about the condition of the curse?”

Changbin frowns as he recalls every bit of the conversation. “No,” he then admits.

“Every curse needs a condition that can lift it,” Minho explains. “Without one, it doesn’t work. The condition cannot be impossible, but a strong curse has one that’s very difficult to meet.”

That piques Changbin’s interest. “So, what is it?”

“Fuck if I know,” Minho chews on an orange slice, “the idiot won’t tell me. Says I should just forget it, since it’ll never happen anyway.”

Changbin sighs. Hyunjin did have this way of convincing himself of things like that.

Jisung yells in the distance as he takes off his shirt, waving it overhead to celebrate his victory.

Changbin doesn’t miss the way Minho stubbornly keeps his eyes glued to his orange.

“So,” he starts, “you and Jisung, huh?” Playfully, he nudges Minho in the shoulder.

“Me and Jisung,” Minho repeats, his voice uninterested, but his tense upper lip tells Changbin enough.

Changbin returns to eating his peach, staying silent to give Minho some time in case he wants to open up. He finishes his entire peach, and is about to give up hope, until Minho finally speaks.

“If we’re gonna be stuck here forever, I might as well take things slow.” Minho hugs his knees and watches Jisung make weird faces at Jeongin.

Changbin throws the peach’s stone into the sea. “You’re a very patient man, Minho. I could learn a thing or two from you.”

Minho smiles, but his eyes are lost in thought. He finally says, “It’s something one must learn after being stuck on an island for fifty-three years.”

Changbin turns. “What? But you look–”

“Young?” Minho laughs. “That’s because we don’t age here. So we can’t even die peacefully from old age.”

“I won’t age either? Even though I can’t do magic or something?” Changbin asks.

“Oh, Changbin.” Minho reaches over to pinch his sticky cheek. “You do magic every day.”

Changbin shrugs him off. “What do I do?”

Minho grins cheekily, like he’s about to tell him a secret. 

“You manage to make Hyunjin smile.”

* * *

It’s on a particularly hot spring day that they decide to take a day off from all the chores around the palace, and just relax in the sun. 

Geom seems to enjoy it the most, as he lies on his back in the grass, his wings spread, black scales practically baking under the scorching sun.

Hyunjin and Changbin hide in the shade of a tree, hands working impatiently as they try to peel some pinecones that are leftover from last autumn. Hyunjin laughs at Changbin’s frustrated noises, having not yet familiarized himself with the skill it takes to get the pine nuts out of their hard casing.

“Here,” Hyunjin says, as he hands him a single pine nut.

“Thanks, so generous.” Changbin chews on it, and his face contorts at the bitterness.

“Have they gone bad?” Hyunjin asks and Changbin nods, spitting it out in the grass. Hyunjin tosses the cone over his shoulder. “Oh well, try again next year.”

Minho cheers across the field as Jisung’s arrow hits bullseye.

They’re practicing on a dead tree, pitch black from when it burned after being struck by lightning. Jisung told them he was gonna be trying something special today with his archery, but he didn’t say what exactly.

Changbin watches with fondness as Minho massages Jisung’s shoulders to get him ready for his next shot, Jisung squeaking when Minho pinches him way too hard.

“I wonder how much longer,” Hyunjin says in a sing song voice, also watching the scene in front of them.

“Me too,” Changbin chuckles, “Jisung usually isn’t this patient in his advances.”

“How would you know?” Hyunjin asks.

Changbin knows it’s just a joke, but can’t stop his back from stiffening. If Hyunjin notices, he doesn’t comment on it.

But a strange urge overtakes him. He can’t shake the thought of what would happen if he just told Hyunjin. And he’s sick of hiding it, keeping a secret from Hyunjin while the other has told him so much about himself. It’s funny how being stuck on an island made him realize just how much he’s craving freedom. 

“Jisung and I–” the words freeze on his tongue.

“Hm?” Hyunjin stretches his arms while he yawns, and then lies down with his head in Changbin’s lap. “What were you trying to say.”

Hyunjin looks up at Changbin, his arm slung over his forehead to shield from the stray sun rays shining through the leaves of the tree.

When Hyunjin looks at him like that, Changbin realizes he can no longer hide. 

“Jisung and I used to be a thing, back when we were teens. It didn’t work out, though.” He says the words quickly, just to get it over with. 

“That’s cute,” Hyunjin says, reaching up to poke at Changbin’s nose, arm moving sluggishly. Then, suddenly, his eyes widen. “Why are you shaking?” he asks.

Changbin didn’t realize he was until Hyunjin says it. “I– I never told anyone before.”

Hyunjin is about to say something, when Jisung yells, “You’re gonna want to pay attention to this one!”

They both look up to watch Jisung aim his arrow, draw the string, and release.

There’s nothing out of the ordinary about the shot. That is, until it hits the tree and it goes up in flames, a hot, blue fire that they can feel all the way across the field.

“What the fuck,” Changbin whispers, Hyunjin agreeing from his lap. 

Jisung looks as shocked as they are, and is even more shocked when Minho walks up to him, takes his face into his hands and presses a quick kiss to his lips. Minho then gives him a shoulder pat like nothing happened, and goes to retrieve another arrow, leaving Jisung to stand there with his mouth open. 

Hyunjin giggles and gets up from Changbin’s lap. “Come on, let’s give them some privacy.” He slaps the folds out of his pants and then says, “Also, I wanna show you something.”

Changbin follows him to the castle, and then up the stairs to the library. Hyunjin retrieves a ladder from the corner of the room, and Changbin laughs to himself thinking how that would have been useful on the night he and Jisung almost died in this exact room.

He watches Hyunjin put the ladder against a bookcase, and then climbing it to get the locked box from the top shelf, the same one he and Jisung tried to get that night. 

Hyunjin puts the box down on the reading table and puts his hand on the lock. After a few seconds the metal starts glowing under his touch, hissing from the heat as Hyunjin tears it apart, its texture now gummy. He drops it on the table, not bothered by the smoke drifting up as it comes into contact with the wood.

Hyunjin takes out a piece of rolled up paper. “You told me something you have never told anyone, so now I’m showing you something no one but me has seen.” He unrolls it, showing its contents to Changbin.

It’s a charcoal drawing of a family. A man and a woman dressed in traditional robes sit next to each other. The woman has a small girl on her lap, and next to the man stands a young boy, smile showing deep dimples. 

This must be Hyunjin’s family. 

“You look happy,” is all Changbin can say.

“I was.” Hyunjin rolls up the scroll again, and puts it back in the box, welding the lock back into place. He places his hands on the table, around the box, his back turned to Changbin.

Changbin doesn’t know what’s happening until he sees his shoulders shake.

So he does what comes naturally to him, and wraps his arms around Hyunjin’s waist. He rests his cheek against the back of Hyunjin’s shoulder, not saying anything, not trying to talk it better, because that’s impossible. He just holds him and hopes Hyunjin realizes that he’s here for him.

And that he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

* * *

Nowadays, Changbin finds himself in the library more often than not.

The room is slowly becoming his safe haven, his place to be. So many fond memories surrounding him, like the traces of ash within the cracks of the floor from the night Hyunjin saved him and Jisung, or the armchairs by the now empty fireplace, still pushed close together.

Changbin drops a big book on the table, and flips through it as his fingers run over the scorch marks in the wood from where Hyunjin dropped the burning lock a week before.

The book is titled ‘encyclopedia of mystical creatures’ and Changbin doesn’t know if it’s filled with facts, or if it’s written by a fantasist, but it might still be useful. 

He only planned on looking up one thing, but morning turns into afternoon as he reads every page. There’s a great deal of information about ocean nymphs, and Changbin learns that they usually live in groups, hunting together as a team. He wonders why Jeongin lives alone, his territory only seeming to cover the perimeter of the island. He vows to ask him next time he brings him some snacks.

The chapter about fairies also catches his attention, and he wonders if they actually exist. There’s ten pages about them, and it goes into great detail, but the information is conflicting. One page, the author seems to be convinced that they’re evil, and on the other Changbin reads about them working with nature, and how their morals seem to be in check with his own.

Changbin hears Jisung and Hyunjin play around in the courtyard as he finally finds the page he was looking for. The sound of Hyunjin’s giggles is distracting, and he fights the urge not to get up and look out the window to see whatever the two of them are up to. 

The chapter is called ‘deities of the elements’, and Changbin isn’t even sure if that applies to Hyunjin, but once he reads about the powers of a fire deity, it all makes sense. He’s seen glimpses of what Hyunjin can do, starting fires with his hands, melting metal, and turning things to ashes like it’s nothing. But the chapter tells him more than that, tells him some scary things as well. He hopes to never see Hyunjin making someone’s blood boil or melt the skin off their face.

There’s something else that stands out, something worrying. Apparently a deity’s power depends on how many worshippers they have. If they don’t receive offerings or prayers, a deity could even pass away. The author notes that this might be a scheme by the deities to receive more offerings, deities being greedy creatures by nature and all.

But Changbin figures that it might be true as he thinks back to the way Hyunjin was when they arrived at the island. He was weak, always sleeping in his room, only coming out to eat and complain. But as time passed, he seemed to gain some strength, the fires he lit burning hotter and hotter. Changbin wonders what changed.

Another giggle sounds from the courtyard, and this time it’s too loud to resist. Changbin shuts the book and walks to the window.

Jisung and Hyunjin are throwing sticks, laughing fondly as Geom chases after them, returning the sticks every time for another throw, aside from the times he accidentally burns them. 

It warms his heart to see his friends get along so well, and it dampens the guilt he feels for getting Jisung stuck in this mess. His friend has repeatedly told him that he is having the best time ever on the island, probably courtesy of Minho, but still Changbin can’t help but feel a little bad about it. It was his stupid idea to go save a princess after all.

He watches Geom land on Jisung’s head, his claws getting stuck in the now darkening roots of his hair. Jisung screams for him to get off, and Hyunjin only laughs, the sound echoing off the castle walls.

Changbin smiles. He’s noticed that lately, whenever Hyunjin laughs, he can’t help but join in. The sound of it is so addictive, and he wishes he could hear it more often. It’s even more rewarding when he is the one making Hyunjin smile. It makes him feel proud and happy and something else he doesn’t have a name for yet. Something he’s too scared to even think about.

Unconsciously, his hand falls to his pocket, palming the small wooden figure inside it.

Over the winter, he’s been practicing woodcarving, and he’s gotten quite good at it. His final project was a little dragon made from pinewood. He made it for Hyunjin, the exact thought of making him smile in the back of his head with every slide of his knife. It’s been two months since he finished it and he’s been carrying it around in his pocket ever since, with the idea of just randomly giving it to his friend and not make such a big deal out of it.

But somehow, he can’t do it.

Because it _ is _a big deal. To him, at least.

Changbin is an honest man, so he wants the other to know what he felt while making it, and why he made it. But he can’t just go up to Hyunjin and say: “Hey, here’s this thing I worked on for weeks while thinking about your beautiful smile, and I’ve been too scared to give it to you because you might not like it and that would literally crush me.”

So he does what feels like the safest choice, and just keeps the wooden dragon in his pocket.

* * *

It’s the first night of summer.

Minho tries to explain to Changbin how one can tell as he points at the stars, but Changbin can’t see it. To him the stars look equally beautiful as they do every other night. 

They build the biggest bonfire they’ve ever had on the beach to celebrate. Minho and Changbin carry the logs to the beach and Hyunjin lights it with his fire. Jisung instead stands by the shore, throwing berries over the waves as Jeongin expertly catches them with his mouth.

Despite the ample room they have on the beach, Hyunjin chooses to sit close to Changbin, leaning against his shoulder. He makes shapes with the smoke, forming it into a puppy, making it run through the air. When it hits Changbin’s nose and breaks apart, Hyunjin giggles at the sight, pressing his face into Changbin’s neck, trying to get even closer.

Minho and Jisung are in their own little world, lying back against the sand as Minho points at the stars, sharing his knowledge with Jisung through whispers. 

“I was thinking,” Changbin says softly as he watches the sparks from the fire fly up into the night’s sky, “when we get outta here, what’s the first thing you wanna do?”

Hyunjin chuckles against Changbin’s neck, the sound vibrating through his skin, spreading warmth throughout Changbin’s body, and then straight to his heart. “_ If _ we get out of here, you mean,” Hyunjin corrects him.

Changbin shrugs Hyunjin off his shoulder at that, only to wrap his arm around the other and pull him even closer. “I know we will.”

Hyunjin goes quiet for a minute, snuggling into Changbin’s chest, and then says, “I want to kill the Deity in the North, so that she can’t hurt my loved ones anymore.”

Changbin expected something fun like swimming in a lake or finally eating some seared meat again. He didn’t even consider the fact that the deity was still alive, ready to hurt Hyunjin again once she got the opportunity. With his hand he gives Hyunjin’s shoulder a quick squeeze. He knows that if that happens, he’ll be right there by Hyunjin’s side, even if he won’t let him.

Next to them, Jisung and Minho slowly get up, sneaking off to somewhere private. Changbin grins when Jisung turns around to stick his tongue out at him before he disappears into the woods. 

Changbin sighs.

“What?” Hyunjin looks up at him, eyebrows raised.

“Nothing,” Changbin says, forcing Hyunjin’s head down by pressing his nose into his hair, not really being able to handle Hyunjin’s prying eyes right now. 

There’s a nagging feeling in his stomach as his mind returns to his earlier thoughts.

Once they leave the island, he’ll still be by Hyunjin’s side, right? 

He thinks about all the things he’s got planned for him, everything he wants to show him, how he wants to take Hyunjin to the capital and introduce him to his mother. Does Hyunjin know how to ride a horse? Changbin would teach him on their way there, let Hyunjin ride Hwan as he jogs next to them trying to keep up. He gets a funny feeling in his chest at the mere thought of it, and he wonders why.

A piece of wood snaps in the fire, sparks flying everywhere, pulling Changbin from his thoughts.

Hyunjin seems to notice. “What’s on your mind? I can hear you thinking.” He moves to look at Changbin again, his pupils blown from trying to see him in the darkness.

Changbin looks down at him, and tries to see as much of him as he can, which is difficult since Hyunjin’s face is so close. He looks into his eyes and suddenly realizes Hyunjin might be the sole reason why he doesn’t mind being stuck on the island. 

He moves his hand to cup Hyunjin’s cheek, running his thumb over the mole under his eye. Hyunjin looks a bit flustered at first, but then he shuts his eyes and leans in to the touch, letting Changbin cradle his face. He seems happy, a content smile on his face as Changbin strokes his skin. 

“You’re beautiful,” Changbin finally says the words he’s been meaning to say for months now. 

Hyunjin’s eyes fly open, blinking quickly as he tries to read Changbin’s face. He looks torn, as if he’s not even busy figuring out what the words mean, but more trying to find out how he feels about them. His lips part, but then he shuts them again, exhaling through his nose after he wets his lips.

When his eyes flicker down at Changbin’s lips, Changbin doesn’t hesitate, too caught up in the moment to stop himself, to think it through.

In a rare moment of bravery he moves closer, aiming to press his lips to Hyunjin’s.

But before he can, Hyunjin pushes him away, his back hitting the sand.

Hyunjin stands quickly, shaking his head roughly, as if to shake himself out of it. “Don’t,” he says, voice cracking.

Changbin is confused, blinking up at him from the sand. “I’m so–”

“Don’t take this stuff lightly, Seo Changbin,” Hyunjin says, his voice cold, the use of his full name making Changbin flinch. “Just– don’t.”

Just like that one night many months ago, the fire dies as Hyunjin walks off, taking all his warmth along with him.

* * *

Changbin is in love with Hyunjin. 

Changbin is also an idiot.

He’s a man of many talents after all.

The realization hits only after Hyunjin leaves him on the beach, as he sits there in the dark, replaying the incident over and over in his head. 

He doesn’t know what came over him, since he’s usually not one to act on a whim. At least not when it comes to his attraction to someone. It was always others that had to take the initiative, Changbin himself generally overthinking his feelings until finally deciding to just internalize them. 

But this time it’s different. His feelings are overwhelming. And now that he’s realized them, it’s like a dam broke and he can’t stop the flood.

In hindsight it’s so obvious. The way his days revolve around Hyunjin, always looking forward to their time spent together. The way he lies in bed at night already thinking of ways to make Hyunjin smile the day after. How he’s been shy to express his admiration for the other’s strength and patience, knowing that those words mean so much more to him than they might mean to Hyunjin. And how his body has been feeling colder than usual when he’s alone, unconsciously craving Hyunjin’s heat.

But now he’s ruined it all.

He doesn’t even think about how he ruined his chances at any romantic relationship with Hyunjin, because that’s just selfish and wrong. What truly kills him is that this will probably mess with the wonderful friendship they built over the time he’s been here, the friendship he now depends on so much.

Without even thinking of a plan to explain himself, he goes to Hyunjin’s room the next morning.

It’s late, almost noon, but Hyunjin hasn’t shown himself all morning. This probably means that he wants to be alone for the day, but Changbin can’t stay away. He needs to clear things up between them or else it might actually kill him. 

Changbin takes a few deep breaths to steady himself before he knocks. “Come in.” Hyunjin’s voice is muffled by the door between them.

Hyunjin’s in his bed, covers pulled up all the way to his nose. His eyes follow Changbin around the room as he walks towards the other side, choosing to lean awkwardly against the windowsill.

A million things he wants to say go through his head, but he decides on the most important thing of them all. “I’m sorry about last night,” Changbin says.

Hyunjin finally sits up a little, covers sliding off to reveal his nightshirt hanging loosely on his shoulders. “It’s okay,” he says, but his face tells otherwise, his lips showing that small smile he does when he’s annoyed. “You didn’t mean it.”

Changbin frowns at that, because that’s not true. Even though he was a bit late in realizing the feelings behind his actions, he did mean to kiss Hyunjin, however stupid of an action it was. “What do you mean?” he asks.

“Look, I get it,” Hyunjin fists his blanket, “you’re lonely here, your best friend is occupied with someone, you think I’m pretty–”

Changbin is incredulous. “No, that’s not–”

“I said it’s okay!” Hyunjin raises his voice on the last part.

Changbin wants to explain himself, tell Hyunjin about his feelings and just how much the other means to him, but Hyunjin’s face tells him he’s decided on his own version of the truth. And by now he knows that once Hyunjin has set his mind on something, there’s no way of convincing him. 

He shakes as he takes another deep breath, trying to not fight back, to not ruin it even more. But he can’t leave with his tail between his legs, he just can’t. Hyunjin is too important to him, so he needs to know the truth.

“I think–no, I know I’m in love with you,” he says as he looks away. He hears Hyunjin’s breath hitch from the bed. “I can’t do anything about my feelings, since they are the truest thing I’ve ever felt.” Changbin looks back at Hyunjin, but the other is unable to meet his eyes. “I won’t pretend like last night never happened, but if you don’t want me like this, then I can stop making advances.” 

A silence hangs in the air as Hyunjin pulls at a loose thread on his blanket.

“I–,” Hyunjin starts, “I can’t. I’m sorry but I can’t.” His voice is small.

Changbin shuts his eyes tightly and breathes in through his nose. It hurts, of course it does, but at least he’s happy his feelings were denied early on. If he’d have to carry them around for a while longer, only to have them be crushed later on, it might have killed him.

He doesn’t ask Hyunjin why. Just gives him a small smile before he walks out the door, not yet knowing he won’t be seeing him for a long time.

* * *

Hyunjin hides in his room for a month. A whole fucking month.

Changbin has to trust Minho when he tells him Hyunjin hasn’t died or anything, because at this point his moping is really getting out of hand. At first, Changbin thought it was what he did, how he almost kissed Hyunjin, that made him turn into a hermit. But now he thinks that can’t be the only reason, since Hyunjin tried to make him believe it wasn’t that much of a deal to him the last time they spoke. 

On the upside, it gives Changbin some time to think.

He throws himself into farming, bare back burning in the sun as Minho sits back and relaxes in the shade, sipping on some lemonade, happy to finally catch a break.

Changbin knows he told Hyunjin he would stop his advances, and he will, since Hyunjin doesn’t even give him the chance to do anything by hiding away. But he really can’t suppress his feelings. It seems like every day he doesn’t see Hyunjin, they just grow stronger. 

He misses him.

Back in the days he got used to suppressing his feelings for other men, life in the capital made that skill a necessity after all. But the feelings he has for Hyunjin are different, not like the ones that would pass after a shameful moment with his own hand under the sheets, or after dumping his body in one of the ice cold baths Jisung always poured for him. 

These feelings are strong, and rooted in his heart where he can’t reach. They’re the most honest thing he’s ever felt in his life and it would almost feel like a sin to pretend they’re not there. It’s selfish, but he at least wants Hyunjin to know how much he loves him, even though he already rejected him. He’s grateful for Hyunjin showing him these feelings were possible, even though they won’t be reciprocated. 

“My sixth sense is telling me you’re frustrated about something,” Jisung says as he sits down in the grass next to where Changbin is working.

Changbin brings down his hoe with more force than needed, sending dirt flying everywhere. “Now why would you think that?”

“Just a hunch.” Jisung flinches as Changbin brings down the tool again. “I’m also guessing it has something to do with the pretty boy sulking in his tower right now?” Jisung says it as a question, even though the answer is obvious.

Changbin sticks his hoe in the dirt and leans on the handle while wiping the sweat off his forehead. “I tried to kiss him, Ji. I fucked up.”

“Yikes.” Jisung grimaces, and then looks over to where Minho is snoozing off, a book flipped open on his face to shut out the sunlight. “I wish I could lend you some luck in love, but I think I used it all up when I found that guy.”

“It’s okay, I’ll figure things out,” Changbin says, not really sure how.

“You’d better, or else it’s gonna be an awkward rest of eternity on this island.” Jisung smiles sympathetically. 

Changbin groans at this, since he hadn’t even thought of that. 

“Actually, Minho told me to bring Hyunjin his dinner.” Jisung’s grin is mischievous. “Would be a shame if I forgot and someone else did it instead.”

They lock eyes and Changbin smiles quietly, knowing that Jisung will always have his back. “Yeah, would be a shame.”

* * *

There’s no response when Changbin knocks on his door, but he expected as much. He turns the handle, but it doesn’t give way. Hyunjin truly locked himself away from them all. 

He puts the tray of food down in front of the door, eyeing all the extra fruit he loaded onto the plate before sneaking out of the kitchen. Strawberries are Hyunjin’s favorite after all.

When there’s no response the second time he knocks, he gives up. He’s already walking away when he suddenly remembers something. In his pocket, he still has Hyunjin’s gift. He takes out the small wooden dragon, admiring his own handiwork. It doesn’t look like Geom, but it’s still perfect.

The small dragon balances proudly on a large strawberry when Changbin finally walks off.

* * *

A few nights later, Changbin wakes to someone pinching his cheek.

He blinks up in a daze, his blurry vision finally clearing up and revealing Hyunjin sitting on the edge of his bed.

“Walk with me,” is all Hyunjin says, so Changbin gets up and follows him outside the castle, the only thing keeping him awake being his nerves.

Wordlessly, they cross the valley and go through the woods towards the beach. Changbin walks behind Hyunjin, feeling too awkward to be next to him. When they arrive at the beach, and the moon finally helps him see, he notices a leather string around Hyunjin’s neck that he’s never worn before, the pendant hidden beneath his nightshirt. 

Hyunjin comes to a stop and stares across the water, his bare feet buried in the sand.

Changbin doesn’t know if he should say something, but Hyunjin finally breaks the silence.

“You know, as a deity, I should be getting offerings,” Hyunjin says, and Changbin nods behind him even though Hyunjin can’t see it. “Deities can sense the intentions in an offering, so that they can decide to answer someone’s prayers or not.”

Hyunjin turns around and pulls on the leather string around his neck, revealing Changbin’s wooden dragon dangling at the end of it.

Changbin’s breath hitches.

Hyunjin plays with the woodcarving in his hands, running his fingers over the edges. “Shortly after I got stuck here, I got a message from the Deity in the North. She told me the condition of the curse.” Hyunjin’s sad eyes finally fall on Changbin. “She told me that a true love’s kiss was the only way to lift the curse, and how I would be stuck here forever since no one would ever love me for me, just like her husband didn’t.”

Changbin wants to say something, anything, but Hyunjin raises his hand, asking for a moment.

“I believed her, and I still do. Which is why I stopped you that night.” Hyunjin looks over his shoulder at the sea. “I didn’t want to be disappointed if nothing happened, didn’t want the confirmation that your love might be untrue.”

The words hurt Changbin, but in this moment he wants nothing more than to walk over and hold Hyunjin, anything to make the sadness disappear from his face.

“But then you gave me this, and–” Hyunjin bites his bottom lip and turns the dragon around in his hand, and then turns to look at Changbin again. “I’ve been thinking a lot over the past month and I have decided that I don’t care. I don’t care if it doesn’t break the curse, I don’t care if we’re stuck here forever. As long as I’m with you I don’t care about anything else.”

Changbin laughs weakly, not really sure what to do with the emotions flooding his body all at once. He leans forward and rests his hands on his knees, staring at the sand like it’s supposed to give him some incent of what to do. He tries to steady his breathing as to not go into a full panic at whatever Hyunjin is telling him.

Hyunjin walks up to him and pulls him up by his shoulder. “Don’t be silly,” he says, eyes twinkling under the moonlight as he shows Changbin his sweetest smile yet.

“Are you– you think– what?” Changbin sputters. He has so many questions, and he doesn’t even know where to start.

“Yes. No. Who cares.” Hyunjin puts his hand on his cheek, just like Changbin did to him a month before, and runs his thumb over his chin. Changbin swallows dryly as he looks up at Hyunjin, looking for answers on what happens next. But he doesn’t have to think for too long, because Hyunjin wets his lips, and says, “Come on, just kiss me already.” 

As if a sudden rush of braveness overcomes him, Changbin pulls Hyunjin down by the back of his head and finally kisses him. 

For the first time since that one night, he doesn’t feel cold anymore.

It’s like Hyunjin’s heat comes rushing into his body again all at once, running through his veins like fire, and Changbin’s addicted to it. He forgets to breathe as he presses himself closer, getting absolutely lost in Hyunjin’s lips. Hyunjin smiles against his mouth at Changbin’s eagerness, and it sends Changbin’s mind flying.

Hyunjin likes him back. Hyunjin is kissing him. Hyunjin wants to be with him. Hyunjin Hyunjin Hyunjin–

The other finally pushes him away, kindly this time, unlike a month ago. Changbin can now breathe again, the oxygen sending sparks to his brain. He reaches up to touch his own lips, Hyunjin’s heat lingering, proof that it truly happened. His heart is going way over the healthy speed limit, trying to escape his chest like a caged bird.

And then nothing happens.

There’s only the sound of waves hitting the beach and the cicadas chirping from the trees.

“I don’t feel anything. I think the curse is still here,” Hyunjin says, but he says it with a smile this time. He reaches down to press a kiss to Changbin’s forehead. “Guess you’re stuck here with me forever, Seo Changbin.” 

Changbin tries to not think about what it means that the curse hasn’t lifted, and instead just focuses on Hyunjin. His Hyunjin who has his arms wrapped around his back and is holding him tight, making him feel so safe. They look at each other for a moment and both laugh, giddy with feelings and the weight of the entire situation.

Changbin is about to kiss Hyunjin again, when the ground moves from under his feet and he topples over, landing in the sand with Hyunjin on top of him.

It’s an earthquake.

The beach shakes, and there’s trees snapping in half in the forest by the sheer force of the quake. Hyunjin’s eyes are wide with fear as he lays on top of Changbin, holding him steady as the ground rumbles. 

Eventually, the quake fades, and they just lie there in complete shock.

“What the fuck was that?” Changbin asks.

Before Hyunjin can answer, Minho comes running from the forest. 

“What the fuck did you do?!” Minho yells at Hyunjin, but despite his words, he looks elated.

Hyunjin and Changbin both blink up at him.

Before either of them can answer, Jisung pops out of the forest and zooms past them, running faster than Changbin has ever seen him run before. 

Changbin and Hyunjin sit up just in time to watch Jisung run straight into the sea. 

They lifted the curse.

They can leave the island.

Without any words, they jump up and run to the water. Changbin gets in instantly, the cold sea making his feet feel pins and needles. Hyunjin stands by the edge for a second, staring at the waves almost hitting his toes, before he takes a hesitant step forward, his eyes falling shut the second the water touches him.

Minho pushes Hyunjin in further, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him close. They’ve been stuck here for so long, Changbin can’t even imagine how either of them feel. 

Jisung is splashing around in the water and laughing hysterically, looking happier than Changbin has ever seen him. However, his laughter stops when he pulls his leg out the water and screams, “Something bit me!”

Jeongin surfaces with a big grin on his face and Jisung runs back to the beach as fast as he can, holding his leg which doesn’t even have a scratch on it. Guess some things never change.

Hyunjin crouches down in the waves and grabs Jeongin’s cheeks, squeezing them tightly. “Hey lil’ fella, can you do me a favor?” Jeongin nods eagerly. 

“Go grab us a boat, will you?” Hyunjin looks back at the others. “Because we’re getting out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls leave a comment!!!! <333


	5. We're Going to Kill a God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MANY WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER
> 
> first of all, it ends on a cliffhanger, so if you're not into that, maybe wait for the next update? (which is the final chapter)
> 
> Also, as i've tagged, some very explicit violence (+blood & gore that comes along with that) in this and also explicit sexual content but obviously not at the same time.

The trip to the mainland is a silent one.

They sit in the boat with bated breath, half expecting something to go wrong on their way. But then the boat hits the beach and they’re actually free. 

Hyunjin takes a while to say goodbye to Jeongin, obviously not feeling well about having to leave the other behind, and promises to come back for him. Geom seems very unbothered by everything, quite the opposite actually, circling over the beach and enjoying his newfound freedom. 

They wait around for dawn to finally hit until Changbin goes to wake the farmer he hasn’t seen since last year. The man is surprised, obviously, but his frown turns into a smile when Changbin hands him another bag of gold, buying back his horse, and three more.

Jisung whines about not getting his mule back, but his nagging stops when he gets the stallion he’s been begging for. They’re going to need to be at full riding power.

When Changbin finally gets his hands on Hwan’s reins again after not seeing him for so long, he feels tears prick at his eyes. He rests his forehead on the horse’s neck, listening to him breathe, and suddenly it’s all so real. They made it, they’re really back.

Geom shrieks from the air, chasing after some seagulls, and the sound pulls Changbin out of his moment. He looks up to see Hyunjin already on a horse, a beautiful tan gelding, dragon pendant hung around his neck, and the sight does something funny to Changbin’s heart. 

With all things going on, he didn’t even get the time to think about what happened, about their kiss. And more specifically, how their kiss lifted the curse, which is something so meaningful, so crazy, that Changbin can’t even wrap his head around it, let alone his heart. All he knows is that he can’t wait to kiss him again. 

Hyunjin smiles at him and cocks his head to gesture they’re leaving.

As they ride out of town and onto the road, Minho asks, “So, what are we gonna do?”

Geom glides down from the sky and lands on Hyunjin’s shoulder, rubbing his head against his owner’s cheek. Hyunjin’s face is determined when he finally answers.

“We’re going to kill a god.”

* * *

“You’re really not gonna tell us what lifted the curse?” Minho asks as he unrolls some bedding, making sure it’s close enough to the campfire to keep them warm, but won’t set on fire. Not that Hyunjin wouldn’t step up if either of those things happened.

“Nope,” Hyunjin says, ignoring Minho’s annoyed glare, peeking at Changbin instead with a knowing smile.

Changbin wants to tell his friends, wants to tell the entire world about it, how their love managed to lift an ancient powerful curse, but for now they’re keeping it to themselves. It makes it feel like something even more special, a secret only he and Hyunjin know. 

It’s actually exciting to hide it. The day before, when they were riding behind Minho and Jisung, keeping a little distance, Hyunjin reached over with his hand, linking his pinky finger with Changbin’s. It didn’t last long, because in no time their horses got annoyed by having to walk so close to each other, but still it was one of the most exhilarating moments of Changbin’s life.

As Changbin sits by the campfire, the heat reminds him of his blushing face at that moment. 

They’re only three days into their journey, and honestly Changbin doesn’t even know how long it will take for them to get there, but he wants it to be over soon. Not because he’s not having a good time, but because he wants them to be out of danger.

Killing the deity is going to be a difficult feat, they have discussed that much, but didn’t come any further than that. They're basically riding North with no plan. 

Changbin watches Geom sleep next to him on the forest floor, so close to the fire that the flames are almost licking at his head. He’s passed out on his back, belly round with all the food he’s been eating. It turns out that Geom has developed a taste for rats while he lived on the island, and almost ate the entire population. But now they’re on the mainland, there’s a snack waiting for him in every bush.

For a second Changbin thinks that Geom looks a little bigger than he did the day before, but he decides that it must be a trick of the light.

“I gotta pee,” Hyunjin says as he gets up from where he was sitting against a tree. “Changbin, come with me, it’s too dark.”

Jisung snorts and pauses his knife from sharpening one of his arrowheads as he looks up at him. “You can literally shoot fire with your hands.”

Hyunjin puts his finger on Jisung’s lips to shush him as he walks past him, and pulls away just in time to avoid being bitten. He then looks over his shoulder to see if Changbin is coming. So of course Changbin gets up so fast he almost trips over his feet, and follows him out of the clearing.

He was right, it _ is _ dark. Somehow the moon shines less bright than it did on the island. Changbin grabs the back of Hyunjin’s shirt to not lose him in the maze of trees.

When he’s about to wonder just how far Hyunjin wants to get away from the camp to pee, he stops at a large tree, its trunk so wide that they couldn’t even wrap both of their arms around it from each side.

Hyunjin turns with a wicked smile on his face.

“What?” Changbin whispers, even though no one is around to hear them.

“I lied,” Hyunjin cocks his head to the side, his eyes twinkling mischievously, “I don’t have to pee.”

“Then why–” Changbin is interrupted by Hyunjin grabbing his hand and pulling him closer, their chests pressing together. 

“I’ve been wanting to do this ever since we left the island,” Hyunjin says and puts his hands on Changbin’s cheeks, giggling as he squeezes them together. His eyes drop to his lips and Changbin gets a hunch that he’s not talking about holding his cheeks.

Hyunjin doesn’t waste any time and brings their lips together.

His lips are soft and warm, and they move like the waves on the beach, so Changbin finds his mind drifting back to their first kiss. Yet this kiss is so different. Last time, Changbin was so overwhelmed by surprise and nerves, but this time he can allow himself to truly experience it, truly feel Hyunjin.

Hyunjin’s hand drifts to Changbin’s lower back, pulling him closer. Changbin sighs into the kiss as Hyunjin’s other hand plays with the hair on his nape, twisting it in his fingers. Changbin feels weak, but not in a bad way. All strength leaves his body to make room for Hyunjin’s heat. The only thing that’s keeping him from losing his breath is Hyunjin’s chest against his, guiding him how to breathe as it moves against his own.

The other moves away too fast for Changbin’s liking, and he can’t stop himself from chasing after his lips, searching for more of that heat.

Hyunjin looks down at him with a pout on his lips. “Hmm, this isn’t it.” He grabs Changbin by his shoulders and gently turns him, pushing him back until he hits the tree. “This is better,” he says as he puts his hands on either side of Changbin’s head, caging him in.

Changbin swallows as he looks up at him, suddenly feeling incredibly small. However, he finds that he enjoys the feeling more than he ever expected, and he needs more of it. He needs Hyunjin to show him just how far he can fall.

And Hyunjin does exactly that. 

He moves his hand to lay it on Changbin’s neck, giving it a small squeeze before moving his fingers to his face, tracing his jaw before his index finger rests under his chin, keeping Changbin’s face up as he leans down to kiss him again.

Changbin doesn’t know what hits him as their lips touch.

All other times they touched, every time he got to experience Hyunjin’s natural warmth, pale in comparison to this exact moment. He feels like he’s on fire, like his blood is going to escape from his veins from the way Hyunjin kisses him. His skin tickles at the sensation of it, and he can’t stand still, trying to cope with the feeling as it’s making his heart race. It’s like adrenaline, but worse, and at the same time better.

When Hyunjin deepens the kiss, Changbin realizes that what he’s feeling must be Hyunjin’s magic. It must be, since there’s no other explanation for the way his entire body shivers despite the heat.

Changbin reaches up to grab at Hyunjin’s shoulders to hold him and to keep himself steady. Hyunjin takes this as a sign to move even closer, and presses Changbin’s back to the tree. Somewhere in the corner of his mind he feels his lungs screaming at him for air and the skin on his back getting bruised by the knobs in the tree bark, but he ignores it, caring only about the way Hyunjin is making him feel all these new things.

Hyunjin finally breaks away, and he looks half as out of breath as Changbin feels, but still, he looks absolutely beautiful like this. Changbin’s eyes go to his parted lips, plump and shimmering in the scarce moonlight. He wants to tell him he’s beautiful, and that he wants to keep kissing him forever, but the words don’t leave his throat, since he’s too busy fighting for air.

He guesses that Hyunjin notices, because the other gives him a break and goes for his neck instead, pressing wet kisses under his ear, making Changbin squirm. Changbin’s hands move to the back of Hyunjin’s thin shirt, bunching up the fabric in his fists as Hyunjin’s breath tickles his skin.

“Fuck,” Hyunjin whispers, lips touching his ear. Changbin vaguely realizes it’s been a while since he heard him swear. Hyunjin presses another soft kiss to his neck before adding, “I’m so in love with you.”

Changbin nods as he says, “Me too, shit–,” Hyunjin’s teeth graze against his skin, right where Changbin’s vein is doing its best to send enough blood to his brain to form a proper sentence, “I love you so much.”

Hyunjin moves back to his lips, pressing at least a hundred small kisses to them, whispering loving words in between, and Changbin thinks this might be the highlight of his life, there’s no way life can get any better after this. So he tries to enjoy it as much as he can, while his mind goes fuzzy at the neverending attention Hyunjin gives him.

“How long until they come looking for us?” Hyunjin asks as his hand disappears under Changbin’s shirt, thumb caressing the side of his stomach. Changbin tries to shrug, but the movement just makes him slip down the side of the tree, his legs finally giving up on him. Hyunjin doesn’t catch him this time, instead he slides down with him, sitting in his lap. 

When he takes Changbin’s face in his hands again, the look in his eyes is playful as he answers his own question. 

“Let’s find out, shall we?”

* * *

“Changbin!” 

Jisung’s loud voice next to his ear startles him so much it makes him jump. “Huh?”

“You were spacing out.” Jisung punches his shoulder playfully as he sits down next to him, dipping his bare feet in the small riverstream. “Rough night?”

Changbin ignores his question and looks down at his own toes in the water. Oh, yeah, he came here to wash himself.

He swiftly takes off his clothes, trying not to let his mind wander again, and dips into the cold water. But alas, the stark contrast in temperature only reminds him of the heat he felt the night before. 

Last night was– it was a lot. It almost feels like a dream, in a way that it was perfect, and also with the way Hyunjin managed to surprise him. He never expected Hyunjin to be so forward in his desire for him. If he had really used his brain he could have guessed it with the way Hyunjin always initiated physical touch, how he was always the first to pull him into a hug or hold his hand. But still, Changbin’s mind never wandered past that.

Hyunjin is almost too much for him to handle. It’s like the other knows exactly what buttons to push, how to kiss him, what to say, and where to touch him to make Changbin absolutely lose himself. There was a point last night where Changbin completely forgot where they even were, speaking Hyunjin’s name against his lips so loud that Minho had to come over and shut them up.

Which was why they didn’t get past kissing and some shy touches underneath each other's shirts. 

But now Changbin is kind of thankful for Minho interrupting them.

He wants to treasure whatever he had with Hyunjin, take his time, file every memory of him in a special spot in his brain where no one else can visit. And since Hyunjin has a knack for making his mind scrambled, he needs to take things extra slow if he wants to give him his full attention.

Jisung takes off his shirt and pants as well, standing on the riverbed in his underwear, scratching his balls as he soaks in the morning sun. Changbin notices a bruise on his chest, right under his collarbone.

“What happened?” he asks as he points at it.

“Oh, this?” Jisung looks down and pokes at it. “You don’t wanna know.”

Changbin silently agrees that he in fact does not, and dips under the water surface, blowing bubbles as he checks his own body for any marks, glad to find there aren’t any. He wouldn’t be able to handle the embarrassment right now. 

Jisung finally takes off his underwear and jumps in the river, screaming at the coldness of it. His lips turn a little blue, and he’s shaking, but despite that he asks, “Wanna see something cool?”

Changbin just nods as he tries to clean his hair in the stream.

Jisung sticks his hand under water and spreads his fingers, letting the current run through it. Within a couple of seconds a fish swims right into his hand. He takes it out the water, it almost slipping out of his hand as it’s trying to escape. Jisung brings his finger to the fish’s head, and with one touch and a blue spark, it dies quickly and painlessly.

He dangles it in front of Changbin’s face with a grin. “Breakfast!”

Changbin’s mouth drops, and it reminds him of what Minho called him that day.

_ Lifebringer. _

Guess that was only one side of Jisung’s magic.

* * *

“I put a spell on the stable boy, so he thinks Geom is just a very loud horse now,” Minho says as he sits down at their small table in the corner of the tavern.

“You can do that?” Changbin asks over the loud hustle and bustle of the place. 

Minho reaches past Hyunjin sitting in between them to give Changbin’s cheek a quick pinch. “Oh, Changbin, if only you knew how strong I was.”

Jisung walks up with four tall glasses of beer clenched between his hands. “Food is on the way,” he says as he puts the glasses down. He raises his own, and says, “To killing the Deity in the North!”

Minho also raises his glass, and adds, “To us actually discussing a game plan for that soon.”

Changbin will gladly say cheers to that.

Hyunjin takes a sip of his beer, nose scrunching up at the taste of it, since he’s probably only used to Minho’s sweet fruit wines. “Chan said she’s getting weaker, but we won’t know what we’re up against until we’re close enough to feel her.” 

“We’ll be okay,” Jisung says, pausing to burp, “I’ve lived long enough to know that going in with no plan is better. Let’s just wing it.”

“Oh sweetie,” Minho says with a pitiful smile, “how are you still alive?”

The food finally arrives, a big platter of grilled meats covering almost the entirety of their small table. Changbin salivates at the sight of it. On the island they had to make do with vegetables and grains only, and the occasional fish Jeongin threw at them, since the only animals on the island were rats, and those were for Geom to hunt after.

They’re having a great time, devouring the food and drinking beer after beer, until some of the patrons in the tavern get a little too drunk and rowdy.

“Man, fuck the king!” a man says at the table next to them, and his friends agree.

Hyunjin glances towards Changbin to check on him, but he ignores it, continuing to stuff his face with food. 

“I had to sell my last horse to pay for extra taxes. How am I gonna work the land now?” The man takes another big chug of beer, words slurring together. “Someone should just usurp the fucker or something, since he’s got no rightful heir anymore. He’s fucking useless.”

Changbin stops chewing at that. No heir?

He looks up to check the reaction of his friends, and is only half surprised to see that Jisung is already up and standing in front of the other table, his almost empty pint in his hand, swaying on his legs. “What the fuck you mean there’s no heir?” his friend asks. 

“Did you live under a rock?” one of the men at the table asks, cheeks red from alcohol. When he says the next part, he says it with a smile.

“The crown prince is dead.”

* * *

“Don’t let it get to you,” Hyunjin says, gently pushing Changbin into their shared room in the inn that connects to the tavern. His hands are on his shoulders, massaging them softly.

“I don’t understand.” Changbin sighs. “I asked Chan to tell my mother I’m still alive.”

“And he probably did, he’s a man of his word, you know?” Hyunjin takes their bags off his shoulder and drops them at the foot of the bed. He then turns to Changbin to put his hand on his cheek. “But would you believe him, if you were your parents?”

Changbin leans in to Hyunjin’s hand and thinks. His mother probably would, since she’s the type of person who can tell if someone is lying. But would people believe the queen? A mother, adamant that her son who’s been missing for a year is still alive, saying that a stranger came to tell her? Probably not.

“Come on,” Hyunjin says, “let’s take a hot bath and get your mind off it.” Hyunjin gestures for him to go to the bathroom, while he looks through their bags for a clean change of clothes.

Changbin agrees, eager for a distraction. His mind is dizzy with alcohol and confusion, so he’s already naked once he dips his hand in the bath, and finds that the water the innkeeper poured for them is already ice cold. “Ah, this sucks,” he says, fully ready to just sit in the water regardless.

“I’ll fix that.” Hyunjin appears behind him, still fully clothed, and leans against Changbin’s naked back. He dips his hand in the water, glowing red, and keeps it there until steam wafts up. “This hot enough?” he whispers against Changbin’s ear, making him shiver.

Changbin ignores the way his mind goes even fuzzier than it was before, and climbs into the hot water. The heat spreads over his skin, and it’s almost like he can feel Hyunjin’s own heat through the magic that made the water warm. The tub is small, unlike the baths back at the island, so it takes some getting used to, but eventually Changbin manages to maneuver himself into a comfortable position.

That is until Hyunjin comes back into the bathroom and starts undressing. 

Changbin looks away, still too shy to see so much of Hyunjin all at once. Hyunjin is beautiful, and that fact doesn’t only apply to his face. Changbin has caught glimpses of his body before, shared a bath with him multiple times on the island, but still he can’t make himself look at the other for more than three seconds before feeling like he’s going to explode.

Changbin keeps his eyes glued to his own toes when Hyunjin comes over, nudging at his shoulder to make some room for him. He scoots forward, folding his legs in half in the tiny space, and Hyunjin climbs in, sitting behind him. He puts his long legs on either side of Changbin, and then wraps his arms around his waist to pull his back against his chest, water sloshing around all the while. 

Hyunjin hums as he relaxes, resting his head back against the edge of the tub. Changbin tries to do the same, tries to make his body go limp against Hyunjin’s, which is hard when there’s so much bare skin against his. Hyunjin takes Changbin’s hand under the water, and lazily plays with it. The casualness of the act finally makes him calm down a bit.

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Hyunjin says, voice echoing in the small room.

“Hm?” Changbin asks, looking at their hands intertwined, fawning at how much bigger Hyunjin’s hand is.

“A few nights ago, in the woods,” Hyunjin starts, and Changbin tries his best to stay in the moment, and not let his mind wander to that night, “I think I might have gone a bit too far.”

“What do you mean?” Changbin lets his head fall back on Hyunjin’s shoulder and looks up at him.

“Well, I wanted to take things slow, and you were clearly overwhelmed,” Hyunjin moves to press a kiss against Changbin’s damp hair, “I think I lost control for a bit there and I don’t like it.”

Changbin tries to think back and pinpoint a moment where Hyunjin didn’t seem in control, but he can’t find it. Maybe it’s because he was slipping so much under Hyunjin’s hold back then, that in comparison to his own vulnerability, Hyunjin appeared pretty much in charge of his own actions. 

“I liked it though,” Changbin admits quietly.

Hyunjin giggles and wraps his arms around his chest, pulling him even closer. “You’re so cute.”

Changbin blushes.

“I just like you so much.” Hyunjin presses a kiss to his neck. And then, quieter, “For over a hundred years I thought I was gonna die a virgin, so–” he doesn’t finish.

Changbin’s mouth drops and he turns. “A hundred years?”

Hyunjin’s cheeks are red and he huffs. “That’s what you take from that sentence?!” 

“Wow, I’ve always wanted an older lover,” Changbin teases.

Hyunjin pokes him in the ribs for that and Changbin squirms, but then he pulls him close again, back in their previous position. “Hmm, lover huh? I like that.”

Changbin hums in agreement at that. He closes his eyes, soaking in the heat of the water and Hyunjin, noticing how the water isn’t cooling down one bit. “My stomach hurts,” he says absentmindedly, and in an instant, Hyunjin has his free hand on his tummy, rubbing it in soothing circles.

Suddenly, Changbin sobers up when he realizes just how insane his situation is.

He’s in a tub, with a deity, which is crazy enough on its own. But he’s in love with this deity, and he loves him back. They got a dragon hiding in the stables, and a witch doing God knows what to his best friend in the room next to them. Oh, and they’re on their way to kill someone who should be practically immortal.

But from all those things, there’s one thing that stands out, the thing Changbin understands the least, so he asks, “Hey, what do you like about me?”

Hyunjin giggles and the sound reverberates through Changbin’s back. “Everything? You want me to make a list?” he asks, while continuing to stroke Changbin’s stomach.

Changbin just nods, and closes his eyes again, enjoying how the pain in his abdomen is slowly subsiding.

“Where to start,” Hyunjin wonders out loud. “You’re sweet and gentle, and sometimes I feel like you’re the only one who actually listens to what I’m saying. Like, you’re not only hearing the words, but actually listening, and understanding what I mean. Also you’re brave and so patient.” Changbin flushes at the words.

“You never get angry with me, even though I sometimes deserve it. And you make me feel like it’s okay to depend on you,” Hyunjin pauses to press a few kisses to his shoulder, “Back on the island, you really made me get out of my shell, and I’m grateful for that.” 

Changbin doesn’t think he did anything special, but he’s happy Hyunjin feels that way, happy that he’s somehow helping the person he loves.

“Also,” Hyunjin continues, “I’ve always hated my powers, ever since I got them. They’re a constant reminder of how my life was taken away from me, but– but the way you look at me whenever I use them, it makes me want to explore them more, see how much I can do with them.” Hyunjin pauses his hand on Changbin’s stomach, and then suddenly pinches his small layer of fat there, “Oh, and I love your tummy as well, is that enough praise for you today?”

Changbin tries to wriggle away from Hyunjin’s hand, giggling at his touch. He feels overheated, in his body, but also in his heart from Hyunjin’s words. But Hyunjin isn’t letting him go, instead he wraps his legs around Changbin, playfully locking him in as the water spills over the edge of the tub from all the struggling.

He whines for him to let go, not really meaning it though, but Hyunjin shuts him up by turning his face and pressing a kiss to his lips. 

When Changbin goes to sleep that night, it’s with Hyunjin half on top of him, his arm wrapped around his waist to keep him close, and his warm breath tickling at his neck.

Like this, with all their clothes stripped away, in a no-name inn somewhere in a small village far away from the capital, they are nothing and everything at the same time. Not a lost prince, not a cursed deity, nothing special.

Just Changbin and Hyunjin.

* * *

The next morning, they all stand in shock when they find Geom.

“Geom look at you!” Hyunjin says as he walks over, kneeling down in the hay to wrap his arms around the dragon’s neck. “What a big boy!” he says in a babying voice.

“What the fuck,” Changbin whispers as he watches his lover hug his now horse-sized dragon.

“Shit, it makes sense,” Minho says as he leans against the stable door, face pensive. “Reptiles often only grow as large as their enclosure allows them to.”

“Aw, poor boy.” Jisung squats down next to Hyunjin, scratching Geom’s chin. “Grow big and strong now, okay?”

Changbin, however, worries. He feels like the other horses in the stable, whinnying nervously at the presence of the now large creature. It’s unnatural how much he grew overnight, so how big would he be tomorrow and the day after? More than that, how the hell are they going to hide him now? Minho can’t put a spell on the whole country, can he?

Hyunjin ends up telling Geom to fly high, and it works, since he just looks like a bird in the sky from a distance. Changbin notices Hyunjin staring up every now and then, worried to lose him, since the dragon normally chooses to sit on his shoulder as they travel. 

“I have a request,” Minho says around noon when the sun is high in the sky, “Can we make a detour? There’s a place I want to visit.”

Of course they oblige their friend, and end up following him only a little off their route. It takes them half a day to get there, but when night falls they find an old farm, standing alone in the middle of barren grasslands. 

They tie their horses to the fence, and Geom lands next to them, instantly chasing the farm’s chickens. Changbin throws Minho a worried look, but the other assures him that it’s okay.

The farm looks deserted, and the door is locked with a rusty metal padlock. Hyunjin moves his hand to melt it, but Minho stops him, raising his own hand instead. He whispers some words that get lost in the wind, and within a second the lock pops open.

Inside the house, it’s even more worn down than it looked on the outside. Cobwebs and dust everywhere, a table standing on three legs about to topple over, rats running parallel to the walls before escaping into their nests. They all have their questions, wondering where the hell they are, but they choose to trust Minho.

Minho takes them to a basement door, but stops before turning, and says, “We need to take off our shoes.”

Changbin is about to complain about not wanting to step on the dirty floors with his bare feet, but then he sees that Jisung is already taking his off, so he might as well listen.

Minho leads them down the stairs, and then through a long and dark corridor, Hyunjin lighting up the torches on the walls as they pass. It’s damp and unpleasant, and Changbin finds it hard to breathe. Hyunjin grabs his hand, and for a second Changbin thinks he is comforting him, but then he notices Hyunjin shake. 

“You okay?” he asks, squeezing his hand tighter.

“Yeah, it’s just–” Hyunjin cowers as some dirt falls through the ceiling, and presses himself closer to Changbin, “it just brings back bad memories.”

Changbin is about to tell Minho that he wants to take Hyunjin back outside, when they arrive at a set of double steel doors.

“Your turn, Jisung,” Minho gestures at the door, “do as I taught you.”

Jisung seems to know what he means and he looks excited as he holds up both his hands. 

The ground shakes and Changbin pulls Hyunjin even closer, moving his sword out the way so he can hold him even tighter to keep him safe.

With a blue flash that blinds them for a second, the doors swing open, flying straight off their hinges. 

“Too much?” Jisung asks with a sheepish smile.

“No, don’t worry about it, you did great,” Minho says as he ruffles his hair. Then he turns to step inside. “Welcome to the High Priestess’ temple.”

They follow him into a large room, ceiling so high that it makes Changbin wonder just how far underground they are. The room is wide, and mostly empty, except for some benches and an altar at the other end. 

The walls are covered in paintings, most larger in size than Changbin himself. He moves closer to study one that stands out. It shows a man bound to a post, bleeding from a cut in his ribs. Next to him is a beautiful woman, her skin looking healthy and kissed by the sun, unlike the pale man. She holds a long knife in her hand, and the man’s heart in the other. Changbin shivers when he realizes that she’s eating the heart.

“Is she a kind priestess?” Changbin asks, voice shaking.

“Only when you’re on her good side,” Minho answers as he walks towards the altar. 

Changbin notices something sticking out from one of the benches at the front. It moves, and when he squints his eyes he realizes that it’s feet. Someone’s here.

“Didn’t hear you come in,” a light voice says. It sounds annoyed. 

Minho flashes a polite smile, the one Changbin has been seeing a lot these days. He knows now that it’s not a kind smile. “You sleeping on the job, altar boy?”

The boy sits up, his disheveled hair a shade that’s almost as red as Jeongin’s, but a little darker, like dried blood. He has the same beautiful skin as the woman in the painting, and Changbin wonders if they’re related.

“Is she awake?” Minho asks.

“Nah, she’s resting. Haven’t seen her since last fall.” The boy studies his cuticles, not looking at any of them. “You gonna pay respects, or what?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Minho says, sounding even more annoyed than the kid.

He kneels in front of the altar, a wooden structure topped with golden statues in varying sizes, all of the same woman. Minho bends forward and presses his forehead to the ground. It’s only then that Changbin notices that there’s no flooring, just dirt.

Jisung immediately walks forward as well, ignoring the boy’s stink eye, and kneels down next to Minho, paying respects to whoever this priestess might be.

Hesitantly, Changbin follows as well, Hyunjin in tow. Changbin kneels next to Jisung, and finds his friends to be whispering all sorts of things, low enough for him to not understand. Hyunjin stops next to him, and is about to kneel when the boy speaks up.

“Not you,” he sings in a light voice. And then, more serious, with his eyes on Hyunjin. “Gods can’t pray.”

* * *

After that, Hyunjin’s mood turns sour.

Changbin is very much reminded of his first weeks at the island, the way Hyunjin had a constant frown on his face, only coming out of his room to complain about something.

He wants to ask him what’s bothering him, wants to talk it out with him, but he doesn’t get the chance because after they leave the temple, they’re never alone. After another day on the road and having to watch Hyunjin sulk, Changbin starts to wonder if it might be something he did. When he rides Hwan to walk next to Hyunjin’s horse, and reaches out his hand to hold it, Hyunjin even hesitates for a moment before taking it.

When they finally camp out for lunch, just off the side of a road, Changbin drags him off to talk.

“What’s going on,” he asks as he wraps his arms around Hyunjin, hugging him from the back.

“Nothing,” Hyunjin says, and Changbin stays quiet, giving him some time to reconsider his statement. Eventually, Hyunjin heaves a deep sigh, back shaking. “It’s just–”

Changbin hums to show that he’s listening, that he’s here for him.

“The kid at the temple pissed me off when he told me I couldn’t pray.” Hyunjin speaks quickly, clearly annoyed. “I don’t like being treated differently for who I am, and I haven’t lived as a deity out in the world that long before I got locked on the island. I guess it’s just something I need to get used to.”

Changbin reaches towards Hyunjin’s chest and plays with his dragon pendant. “Don’t get used to it. Don’t let people treat you like that.” Changbin speaks the words against Hyunjin’s shirt, face pressed between his shoulder blades. “Before being a deity, you are Hyunjin, a human.”

“Thank you.” Hyunjin rests his hand over Changbin’s where he’s holding the pendant. “Sorry for being so contradicting. I said you made me feel more comfortable about my powers only a few days ago, and now I’m acting like I hate them again. I’m just a little confused.”

Changbin is about to turn his lover around to give him a kiss to reassure him that it’s okay, when they hear a guttural scream from the camp, the voice belonging to neither of their friends.

They run back, and find their camp on fire.

But that’s not the worst part.

A group of bandits, roughly seven of them, are fighting their friends.

Jisung nor Minho have time to pull their bows and attack, since the men are already too nearby, clearly having caught them by surprise. Jisung is doing his best punching around as one man already falls back. Minho has a knife, which also seems to keep some of the men at a distance.

It all feels unreal.

That is until Minho stabs one of the men between his ribs, blood oozing out as he pulls the knife out quickly.

Changbin’s hand hovers over his sword, shaking. He doesn’t understand why he’s hesitating.

Hyunjin doesn’t hesitate and leaves his side instantly, making his way towards Jisung, who seems like he needs the most help. He unsheathes his sword and gets in between Jisung and the others, giving him enough room to get an arrow ready. 

Changbin just stands there, frozen, wanting to yell at Hyunjin to use the fire around them, to use his powers, but he can’t find his voice.

Jisung hits someone in the side, and then in the leg, eyes dark and focused as he pulls another arrow. Hyunjin’s swordsmanship is stiff, unlike him, but he manages to send two of the men fleeing with cuts and bruises. 

So much is going on, and Changbin can’t even keep track of what he’s seeing through the fire. His vision goes a little blurry as he has trouble breathing. Through the smoke he catches Minho taking down another guy, the man tripping over while holding onto his stomach, its contents spilling out. 

One of the men manages to crawl away from Minho, bleeding from his legs. A large shadow appears from the sky, hovering over him. Geom lands, his full weight shaking the ground around them. He pins the man down with his hind leg, claws digging deep into his chest. The man screams, the sound so visceral that it shakes Changbin to his core. All he can do is watch as Geom closes his jaw around the man’s head, tearing it off his torso in one bite, and then shaking it before tossing it to the side, leaving the man’s limp body to bleed out. 

Changbin falls to his back, tears in his eyes. He feels useless and scared, but at the same time he wants to scream at his friends to stop. While shutting his eyes he tries to tune out the noise, the sound of men screaming as they die, of metal against metal, bones cracking. 

So he doesn’t even notice the man creeping up on him from behind. 

The man wraps his hand around Changbin’s mouth and pulls him back into the woods. 

He pulls at the arm, trying to get away. He tries to bite at the hand, and gags at the foul taste of dried blood on his tongue. Finally, he gets a hold of it with his teeth and bites down. The man doesn’t respond well to this, grabbing him by the hair and slamming him against a tree before punching him in the nose.

Changbin coughs as warm blood runs down his face and down his throat, leaving him unable to scream for help.

The man grabs Changbin’s sword from his belt and points it at his neck. “I gotta thank your friends for taking out my mates, because now I don’t have to share.”

Changbin grabs at his nose and chokes around a question, immediately shutting up when he feels the sharp point of his own sword against his skin. The man notices his surprise and elaborates.

“There’s a big prize on your head, little prince. When I take your head home in a bag, I won’t have to work another day in my life.” The man laughs at this, the sound cruel and horrifying.

Changbin knows he needs to ask him who gave him the job, where this ‘home’ is that he’s talking about, how the man even knows he’s still alive.

But before he can, someone grabs the man’s hair from behind, pulls his head back, and slits his throat.

When the man finally stops twitching and gurgling from choking on his own blood, he is dropped to the ground, revealing Minho with his dirtied knife.

Minho looks calm and collected, and Changbin doesn’t understand how he does it, doesn’t understand anything that’s going on, only hears how the previous noise turned into an eerie silence. 

Changbin slides down the side of the tree to the forest floor, wincing at his throbbing head. He grabs at his nose, finding it to be still bleeding. In an attempt to wipe away the blood, he pulls up his shirt to cover his face. When he looks down he’s shocked to see that his pants are wet, not only with blood. He pulls up his knees to hide from Minho, but the other doesn’t seem to care about it, just leans down to pull Changbin’s hands from his face to inspect his nose.

Minho calls for the others, and Changbin is shaking to the core when they come running. Hyunjin drops to the ground next to him, his fists grabbing onto his shirt, tears in his eyes. Jisung stands to the side, holding onto his arm which is bleeding. Jisung takes one second to tear his eyes off Changbin to spit on the dead man’s body between them.

“I need you to actually use your powers soon now, Hyunjin,” Minho whispers as he moves Changbin’s head back a bit. “This is gonna hurt, baby,” Minho warns before pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Changbin’s vision goes black momentarily, as the pain overpowers him. He hears an awful crunch reverberate through his skull as Minho puts his nose back in position. More blood streams down his throat and he feels like he’s going to be sick, but then suddenly, the pain fades, a warmth spreading across his body instead.

He slowly blinks his eyes open and finds Hyunjin in front of him, his hands on his cheeks, glowing red. 

“You–” Changbin starts, confused because he didn’t even know Hyunjin could do this. 

“Shh, don’t talk. Let me heal you first,” Hyunjin says, and then sniffs, blinking his tears away.

It’s only then that Changbin notices the others’ state. Aside from Jisung’s bleeding arm, he also has a black eye and a split lip. Minho seems to have several cuts on his arm, and a bloody tear in his shirt. But worst of all, Hyunjin has a gash on his cheek, so deep Changbin can’t even look at it for too long without wanting to faint. He hates that Hyunjin is healing him first, but he’s too tired to complain.

So, so tired that he finally blacks out.

* * *

When he wakes up again, the tree against his back is replaced by cold rock. 

He seems to be sitting against the wall of a house, but when he looks around he finds that he is outside, under the now dark sky. Changbin looks down to see that he’s been changed into clean clothes. And when he moves his arm to bring it up to his face, he sniffs it and discovers that he’s also been bathed.

As soon as he notices Changbin’s movement, Hyunjin stirs next to him. “How are you feeling?” His voice is filled with worry.

Changbin discovers that they’re sitting in what seems to be a ruin of a worn down house, the roof having fallen down a long time ago. The ground is hard and cold, but it makes for a better shelter than staying out in the woods, as their previous situation has shown them.

“Jisung?” Changbin asks, his voice hoarse. 

“He and Minho are sleeping on the other side.” Hyunjin moves his hand to carefully touch at his nose, and Changbin realizes it doesn’t hurt anymore. “We came here to hide, just in case. You were out for four hours.”

Changbin nods, trying to gather himself. He still feels a bit dizzy, but aside from that he feels great, amazing even, well rested and not even hungry. He spots how the cut on Hyunjin’s cheek has also healed by now. His magic must be getting more powerful.

He looks over Hyunjin’s shoulder, through the place where a door used to be, and sees Geom sleep in the grass, twice the size he was the day before. Changbin shivers at the gruesome memory of what the dragon did earlier that day.

Hyunjin pulls him from the thought by grabbing at his shirt, head dropped, shoulders shaking softly. “I couldn’t even save you,” he whispers.

Changbin huffs a pathetic laugh at that. “And I couldn’t save you either.” He wonders why they were so stupid to think they could kill a deity, when they could barely beat a bunch of men.

Hyunjin looks up, eyes glossy. “Don’t– I like that about you. You don’t kill, you’re not cruel, even when–” Hyunjin sighs. “Let’s forget about today, okay? Just for tonight.” 

Changbin nods, happy to do exactly that.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to do,” Hyunjin says, as he leans to the other side to grab Changbin’s sword from under their bags. 

Changbin watches him unsheathe it, laying it on his hands, the blade reflecting the moonlight.

“Just in case,” Hyunjin says before his hands start glowing again, the sword following shortly after. But it doesn’t melt like Changbin expects, only sizzles a bit before cooling down again. “I blessed it,” Hyunjin moves the weapon closer to his face to investigate it, “at least, I think I did. I’ve never done this before.” He giggles at that. “Now, if you ever need to use it, you will only need one cut, and it’ll knock someone out, but keep them alive. If you want them dead you still need to actually, you know–”

“Thank you,” Changbin says, moving to sit on his knees as he takes the sword from Hyunjin’s hand. He holds it and finds it to be a bit heavier than before, but then he tosses it aside. He doesn’t want to see any more swords today. 

“There’s something else I need– that I want to do,” Hyunjin whispers as he hooks his hand behind Changbin’s thigh, and pulling it over his own so that Changbin is sitting on his lap.

He startles a bit from being picked up like that, but he decides that he likes it, and relaxes onto Hyunjin. His lover looks up to him, with no intent on elaborating his previous statement. Instead he just reaches up and moves Changbin’s bangs out of his eyes.

Changbin immediately understands what he wants, because it’s exactly the thing he’s longing for the most in this moment. 

Without wasting any words he leans down and crashes his lips into Hyunjin’s. His lover kisses him back instantly, his fists on the back of this shirt, pulling him closer. The kiss is nothing like the previous ones. Hyunjin kisses him like it’s their last day on earth, his magic flooding into Changbin’s body like a drug, setting his blood on fire. He wonders if it ever even left his body in the first place. 

Changbin can’t hold back this time, he just can’t, so when he slips his tongue into Hyunjin’s mouth, and Hyunjin moans, he gladly swallows the sound, wanting more of it. He doesn’t seem to be alone in this emotion, because Hyunjin’s hands find their way under his shirt, nails softly scratching at his back as he’s trying to touch every part of him.

He doesn’t even care about their friends sleeping nearby, thinks Jisung actually owes him some for having Changbin lend him his room for all his one night stands over the last few years. So he moves to Hyunjin’s neck, copying what he did to him on that night in the forest, sucking open mouthed kisses onto his skin. He finds the pretty mole in his neck and bites down hard, showing him that he’s not ready to waste any time.

Hyunjin throws his head back, hitting it hard against the stone wall he’s leaning on, and winces. His hands disappear from under Changbin’s shirt and instead land on his behind, pulling him even closer. Changbin groans when his crotch finally touches Hyunjin’s, not surprised to find that that place seems to be the center of his heat.

He grinds down against him, wanting to see Hyunjin react, wanting to be good for him. And Hyunjin does react, meets his movement halfway and pulls him back for another kiss. It’s making Changbin dizzy, makes him slip again, but he needs to be present for this. He wants to experience every second of this.

“I need you inside me,” he says as he pushes Hyunjin away. Hyunjin is confused for a second, pupils blown and lips flushed, but then he nods. 

He reaches to his side, grabbing one of their bags and tipping it upside down, all contents spilling. Changbin laughs softly at his eagerness as his lover looks through all the stuff that’s scattered on the ground, until finally finding the shaving oil that Changbin loves so much, the one that smells like lavender and oak. 

Changbin takes it from Hyunjin’s shaking fingers. “You okay?” he whispers, putting his hand on his cheek, making him look up at him.

“Yeah, I’m–” Hyunjin gives him a quick smile, dimples showing. “I just really want you. A lot.”

“I’m all yours,” Changbin says, pressing another kiss to his lips, happy to find him smiling against his mouth.

He tries to take off his pants in one smooth go, but his forehead hits Hyunjin’s while doing it, and they laugh about it before Hyunjin presses a finger to his mouth to remind him that they’re not alone. Changbin is grateful to find that whoever dressed him forgot to put on some underwear, so after he tosses his pants to the side, he’s ready to go.

Hyunjin freezes when Changbin sits his full weight on his lap again, looking down at his nakedness with wide eyes. Changbin feels a bit shy at that, and tries to grab his attention away from it by pulling at Hyunjin’s shirt, sliding it over his head. Hyunjin seems to snap back into action at that, and also drags Changbin’s shirt off. The late summer night air is cold on his back, but he just moves closer to Hyunjin.

Hyunjin always keeps him warm.

Changbin takes the top off the vial of oil and spreads it on his fingers as he kisses Hyunjin. “I’ve never done this,” Hyunjin whispers against his lips.

“I know,” he whispers back, as he works his fingers into himself, his body giving way easily with how relaxed it’s been feeling ever since he woke up earlier. Hyunjin moves to his neck to suck at his skin, suddenly too shy to look down at whatever Changbin is doing. Changbin sighs at his touches, the feeling of them so addicting that it even overpowers the feeling of his own fingers inside himself.

If Hyunjin’s kisses make him feel this good, then he can’t even imagine what it would feel like to have him inside of him. But he’s about to find out, because he can’t be bothered to slick himself up any more. If having his lover inside is going to hurt a little bit, he’ll gladly take it. He’s been through worse shit today.

Hyunjin’s hips twitch when Changbin pulls at the string to undo his pants. His fingers are sticky, and the pants’ fabric even more so, soiled by both Changbin’s and Hyunjin’s excitement. When he undresses him further, he discovers his own hands to be shaking as well. Seeing Hyunjin so naked is sobering, making it real.

He suddenly understands why Hyunjin froze earlier, since he finds himself now also staring at the other’s body. With trembling hands, he takes ahold of him, experimentally stroking him, unsure since he doesn’t know what the other likes. He looks up to watch his face for a reaction.

Hyunjin’s head snaps back at the touch, hitting it against the wall again. However, his time when he winces it’s not because of pain, but from pleasure. Changbin loves seeing him like this, and his mind takes him a million places, suggesting all the things he can do with him in the future.

But right now there’s only one thing he wants.

Without any delay, he lines them up and sinks down, not breathing until he’s sitting on Hyunjin’s lap again, this time with him inside of him, finally. Hyunjin grabs at his thighs, his nails digging into his skin as he tries to keep his breathing steady. Changbin smiles to himself, realizing he’s not the only one having a hard time breathing.

It hurts, it hurts a lot, and Changbin realizes he was too eager and now he’s paying the price for it. But then as quick and sharp as the pain came, it fades again, much like the pain in his nose did earlier today. He looks down at Hyunjin, and finds a crooked smile on his face, the sight of it almost goofy.

Changbin punches his chest. “Of course you have a magic dick,” he hisses quietly.

Hyunjin seems to have lost all his previous shyness. “Are you complaining?” he asks, running his hands up Changbin’s thighs, over his hips, and onto his ass before squeezing it and pulling him down even more.

Changbin feels Hyunjin twitch inside of him and he decides that he is in fact not complaining. 

“No, shut up, just kiss me,” Changbin leans down to bring their foreheads together, “do that thing you always do when you kiss me.”

Hyunjin’s eyes glint cheekily at that. “What thing?” he asks, pretending to not know the exact effect he has on Changbin.

But Changbin puts him in his place when he moves his hips up a little, only to slam them down again. It’s all he has to do for Hyunjin to finally connect their lips.

Kissing Hyunjin is one thing. Kissing him as he’s thrusting himself inside you? It’s not even comparable. Changbin’s mind logs out after only one second, his body completely taking over. 

It’s like nerves rushing through his body, in the best way possible. He feels it itch under his skin, from his toes to the tip his head. Hyunjin is everywhere. It’s like he’s breathing through him, as if they’re becoming one. His lover doesn’t even have to touch him where he’s leaking like crazy for him to come undone. It’s like his body is trying to implode with the way the tension is building up, and then it unravels.

He moans into Hyunjin’s mouth as he spills onto his stomach, not even bothered about being loud, or the fact that he came so fast. The heat of it washes through him like waves, and it’s not like something he’s ever felt before, it just doesn’t stop.

Changbin knows he’s ruined for life after this, but it doesn’t matter, because he doesn’t plan on ever being with someone who isn’t Hyunjin. 

When it finally subsides, he whines from sensitivity as Hyunjin just continues to fuck him. But that feeling also passes, because before he knows it, his body is begging for another release. He should wonder what’s going on, how Hyunjin is making him feel this way, but he can’t be bothered since he’s feeling like heaven came down to earth for just one night.

Hyunjin stops his movement and puts his hands on his back before slowly flipping them over. He keeps his hands there, so Changbin’s back doesn’t get hurt from the rough floor, but honestly he wouldn’t care if it did. He just wants to see Hyunjin come undone as well.

His lover continues his movements, and the sound of skin on skin, of their breaths mangled together, of Changbin moaning into his mouth, they all echo off the walls in a hypnotizing harmony. Hyunjin hides his face in Changbin’s neck, hair wet from exertion, and Changbin puts his hand behind the other’s head, pulling him even closer.

“Fuck, I love you,” Hyunjin whimpers into his neck.

“Me too,” Changbin manages to get out, words all mixed up in his brain as Hyunjin brings his body back to that peak again. 

Changbin cries out into the night as waves of pleasure chase through his body again, this time even more intense than the first. And when Hyunjin’s hips stutter, and he spills everything he has inside of him, it gets even more powerful. It’s like sparks fly through his whole body, like blood finding its way through places it’s never been before.

Hyunjin sobs into his neck as he rides out the pleasure. Changbin wraps his arms around him, making him collapse on top of him, and rubs soothing circles on the other’s back when he doesn’t seem to stop sobbing after a couple of minutes.

Changbin doesn’t understand why he’s crying, but he doesn’t ask, just holds him like he’ll never let him go.

* * *

In the morning, Hyunjin and Geom are gone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	6. I Am Not Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO ANOTHER WARNING
> 
> some of my friends have pointed out that i should tw something on this and im an idiot for not realizing + tagging it sooner. 
> 
> anyways, there's a kind of suicide attempt in this chap, in a self sacrificing way, but nothing graphic or bloody or anything.
> 
> also no worries, happy endings only

In the morning, Hyunjin and Geom are gone. 

Changbin shakes as he stands by the indent in the grass from where Geom was sleeping the night before, the place where he found the note pinned to the ground by his own sword.

_ Don’t come looking for me. _

He falls to his knees and just sits there for minutes, maybe hours. Time seems irrelevant as he goes over yesterday’s events, puzzling together the reason for Hyunjin’s actions, what could have possibly made him abandon them. 

It’s a sullen feeling when he realizes last night was Hyunjin’s way of saying goodbye to him.

Minho finds him shivering in the grass, and peels the note from Changbin’s cold hands. 

“This fucking idiot,” he hisses. Minho then softly kicks Changbin in the leg. “Get up, stop moping, we have to catch up with him.”

Changbin blinks up at him, still in a daze. “Do you even know where he went?”

“Of course,” Minho says, “I’ve known him for too long. He’s dumb enough to think he can take on another deity by himself.”

* * *

It turns out they’re closer to the Northern Deity’s home than they thought. 

Hyunjin left his horse behind, which means that Geom is probably finally big enough to carry a person on his back. 

This also gives him one hell of a head start.

They ride for eight hours in a row, with no breaks, only stopping every once in a while so Minho can navigate. The witch doesn’t use any maps, just closes his eyes and mumbles something about energy, something Changbin will never understand.

Jisung is quiet, for once, face constantly contorted into a worried pout. Changbin hates the silence, because it gives him time to think.

He’s come to the conclusion that it was probably yesterday’s attack that was the last straw for Hyunjin. Seeing his friends get hurt, seeing just how useless Changbin was in a fight. He probably realized that there was no way they’d all get out unscathed when facing a deity, so he decided to do it by himself. 

Changbin can’t help but think Hyunjin left knowing full well he won’t survive by himself, but decided that sacrificing himself was better than any of his friends getting hurt.

He wants to be mad at Hyunjin, knows that he should be. But there’s something admirable about it, stupidity aside, and Changbin knows that if he were as brave as him, he would’ve done the same. 

Around sunset, they spot some buildings on the horizon. The air grows cold and their horses go tense, especially Hwan, whinnying uncomfortably at the eerie atmosphere. 

They find Geom sleeping outside in the grass, much like the night before.

Only this time, when they try to wake him, he doesn’t wake up.

“She must have put some type of spell on him,” Minho notes as his hand strokes the top of Geom’s head, “Fuck, I didn’t think she was still strong enough to do that.”

Fear rushes through Changbin’s body at the sight of Geom. It feels wrong, unnatural for him to be like this. If this deity could do this to such a majestic and powerful creature like him, he can’t even imagine what she might do–no, might have already done to Hyunjin.

Changbin pulls his sword, his hand shaking around the hilt. “Let’s not wait around any longer. We have to find Hyunjin.”

The Northern Deity lives in a traditional shrine, one that starts off with a communal outdoor area, with small buildings scattered around for all different kinds of purposes. The area leads up to a large set of stairs that will take potential worshippers to the much larger main building, its walls red as blood and roof curved, a group of pigeons resting on the edge of it. The property looks deserted, like she hasn’t had any worshippers in a long time, nor any keepers taking care of the buildings and altars. 

They pass through a gate as the sun is finally fully setting, and Changbin feels anxious. He half expects someone to jump out from behind any wall now, attacking them. But Minho seems calm, guiding them towards a set of tall stairs that lead to where they need to be. Jisung seems to be sharing Changbin’s attitude, bowstring pulled and arrow ready to shoot if anyone pops out. But it’s quiet, only their footsteps echoing off the white steps as they climb the stairs.

The main building is small, and the doors are wide open, which according to Changbin’s logic is never a good sign. Is she expecting them? Did Hyunjin walk in through the front door like they are about to as well?

They walk in while holding their breath. The entrance hall is empty, aside from an abandoned altar with no offerings on it. There’s also no doors, no evidence of any other rooms in the building, but they know there should be more. They spread out and prod at the walls looking for any hidden passageways. 

“Let’s not get split up.”

Minho’s words are the last thing Changbin hears before the wall opens up before him and he stumbles inside. He turns to get out immediately, but is greeted by his own face, reflected by a mirror.

Candles in the chandelier hanging from the ceiling flare up, and suddenly the entire room becomes visible.

The room is covered from side to side in mirrors, in all different shapes and sizes. There’s ones with meticulously decorated frames, embellished with beautiful rhinestones, ones set in gold, and also the occasional broken mirror with no frame at all. 

They all have one thing in common, and it’s that they show Changbin his own face, shocked and scared.

He steps closer to one, and almost gets lost in the reflection, completely forgets why he’s even here. The face staring back at him is tired, pale, pupils blown. He reaches up at his own cheek, touching at the place where there used to be a healthy amount of fat. Now there’s only skin and bones.

Cold sweat settles in on his neck as his face changes. It starts at his eyes, lids getting heavier, crows feet engraving the side of his eyes. His hair grays, the occasional strand turning silver, until his entire head is covered with hair white as snow. From his chin grows a beard, and he can feel it itch his skin, but when he reaches to touch it, it isn’t there, only visible in the reflection. Finally, a small scar is etched into his forehead, like a finishing touch.

“No,” he whispers in disbelief, watching the way his father’s face forms the word. 

Is this what he will look like when he’s old? Just a carbon copy of his father? Changbin always prided himself in being nothing like the cruel old man, but seeing his face on his own makes bile come up to his mouth.

There’s nothing he fears more than turning into his father. 

But he’s nothing like him, right? Changbin is kind, empathetic, a good friend, and he loves his mother, unlike his father. He might not be as brave as the man, might not be able to kill people in cold blood, but that is a good thing in his eyes. 

A thought crosses his mind as he watches a frown form on the face staring back at him.

He always considered that the key factor, the thing that set him apart from being just like his dad. The fact that Changbin has no intention of ever killing anybody. But then why was he here? In this shrine?

To save Hyunjin. Yes. But how will he do that without ending the deity’s life? There’s no way she will just let them walk out scot-free. Will Changbin be able to put his sword through the deity’s heart to save his lover if he had to?

His reflection nods encouragingly. It’s the exact same face his father had on their first hunt together when he was only nine years old, his grip tight on Changbin’s wrist as he guided his hand, helping him cut the throat of a young buck. Changbin still remembers how hot the blood was that sprayed his face, how embarrassed his father was after Changbin wet himself in the process, so much that he made him walk all the way home in his soiled pants. 

“No,” he whispers again as he drops his eyes to floor to avoid his father’s face.

Suddenly, he feels it, a familiar sensation. He’s felt it many times now, enough to recognize it. It’s barely there, only a hint of a tingle, but it’s there.

It’s someone’s magic affecting him. 

But it’s not like Hyunjin’s. This magic is dark, like a cold breeze freezing his brain on the first winter day. He clasps the hilt of his sword, the metal warm in his hand, remnants of Hyunjin’s magic coursing through it.

It’s all fake, his father, the room, it’s all an illusion.

He’s stronger than this.

“I am not,” he lifts his sword, metal glowing red, “him.” With all his force he swings the blade right at his father’s smug face, shattering the mirror into a million pieces. All the other mirrors in the room crack, shards scattering down like hail. It’s like he’s in a glass box and the walls just disappear, because suddenly he finds himself in a hallway instead.

There’s a door at the end of it, calling for him. He wipes at the cut on his cheek from where the flying glass grazed him, and walks forward. He’s still trembling with fear, but more than that he’s eager to leave this awful place and take Hyunjin home with him. And if beating dark magic like the mirror trick is what he’s gonna have to do, he’s willing to live through it a thousand times more.

Without further ado, he kicks the door open.

It’s a dining room, and the smell of food hits him first. Candles throw an orange glow on the room, the low ceiling making it feel like a tomb. There’s a long table, with five seats on either side, and one more at the end of it, at the head. There’s a royal feast on the table, and the guests are digging in to it.

Changbin freezes when he realizes the guests are young children, their complexion sickly and pale, cheeks fallen. They eat like they’ve been starved, pausing only to exchange the occasional word or to steal a chicken leg from the other’s plate.

One guest, at the last seat on the side of the table, the one furthest away from Changbin, isn’t eating.

“Hyunjin!” Changbin calls when he finally spots him.

Changbin runs past the children, who completely ignore him, and drops to his knees next to Hyunjin. His lover’s eyes are vacant, almost dead-like, and Changbin desperately shakes his shoulders to wake him up.

Hyunjin slowly blinks, and then his eyes widen as they meet Changbin’s. “You shouldn’t be here,” he says, tears forming in his eyes, “Leave while you still can.” 

Hyunjin’s voice cracks at the last part and Changbin’s heart breaks at the sound of it. But he can’t leave, not without Hyunjin. He tries to drag the other off his chair, but he’s immovable, like he’s glued to it. They need to leave. Now. Changbin’s fingers can’t stop from shaking as he tries to pull even harder, just to get his lover to stand up. 

“It’s no use.” Hyunjin shakes his head. “I can’t beat her. She’s taken all my powers and–”

Hyunjin freezes when the sound of footsteps fill the room, getting closer by the second. 

The children at the table finally stop eating, one of them wiping his cheeks and excitedly yelling, “Mommy’s here!”

“I see you enjoyed my entertainment while I was getting ready for this celebration.” A tall woman walks in through the door, ducking her head to get inside. She pinches one of the children’s cheeks before walking towards the end of the table where Changbin is. “You fared better than little Hyunjin did in my room of mirrors.”

Changbin, still kneeling next to Hyunjin, grabs at the other’s shirt for security. His confusion is overpowered by his fear. As she moves closer, he feels like he’s on the edge of a cliff, cold sweat in his neck, the threat of dying just a mere inch away from him. He tries to move in front of Hyunjin, to protect him, but when the woman comes to a stop in front of him, he knows he’s fucked.

This is a true deity.

Changbin finally understands what Minho meant when he was talking about energy, because now he can feel it radiating off of her like a stench. 

She looks almost human, almost. Her unnatural height and black eyes are a dead giveaway that she is anything but.

“I’ve been waiting for you to finally join us, Seo Changbin,” she says, reaching out her hand for him to shake, but instead Changbin tries to raise his sword at her. It shakes pathetically as he holds it up between them.

She reaches down and grabs the blade. “I’ll be taking that, thank you,” she says calmly, the skin on her hand sizzling as she easily pulls the sword from his grip and tosses it to the other end of the room.

Changbin stands and turns to Hyunjin, so many questions in his eyes. Why isn’t his lover doing anything?. Hyunjin doesn’t seem to be making any attempts to leave or to fight back. He’s got his eyes pinched closed, tears escaping them in a steady stream as he cries quietly.

“Don’t bother,” she says as she pulls out the chair at the head of the table, “he can’t leave that chair until I make him.”

The children at the table giggle and Changbin’s stomach turns at the sickening sound of it. 

He feels Hyunjin shake under his touch where he’s grabbing at his shirt, and he feels like he’s gonna hurl. He doesn’t want to see Hyunjin like this, doesn’t want him to live in fear of this creature anymore. He just wants things to stop.

Like he’s scraping something from the bottom of a bucket, he gathers a final bit of bravery to speak. “Haven’t you hurt him enough?” he asks, voice weak.

“Enough? What, the curse?” She laughs and the children join in, the sound possibly the most terrifying thing Changbin has ever heard. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? Cursing him was never the point.”

Hyunjin starts sobbing.

The deity leans forward and grabs a piece of chicken, tossing her long black hair over her shoulder before pulling the meat off the bone with sharp teeth. “Did little Hyunjin tell you what he did?” she asks while she chews.

Changbin doesn’t answer, frozen in fear.

She continues anyway. “He seduced my husband, little whore that he is. My husband, rest his soul, ended up giving his life to him.” Her cold, dark eyes fall on Hyunjin. “Do you have any idea how much it hurt to see my loved one die for a mere human?”

She locks eyes with Changbin, a cold smile on her lips. “So it’s only fair that I do the same to him.”

It’s like the floor is pulled out from underneath him. It all makes sense now. Like she said, the curse was never the point. It was only a ploy to find Hyunjin’s true love, no matter how long it took. That was the true plan for her revenge.

It's so evil, so wrong, that Changbin can’t even wrap his mind around it. How did she even come up with this? How could she think this was a fair exchange? He tries to come up with something he can say, something to change her mind, but his head is in flight mode, not providing him with anything smart. It’s just telling him to run away, to get as far away from this creature as possible. He wills himself to stay put, because he can’t leave without Hyunjin.

“Well, kids,” she pushes her chair back and stands, “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a hundred years, so I’m a little excited.” Some of the children cheer, bouncing in their seats, others stare in anticipation.

Quickly, she leans down towards Changbin. Changbin cowers back, a pathetic whimper escaping his mouth as her large hand moves towards him. On instinct, he reaches for his sword, long forgotten that she already took it from him. She manages to grab him by the shirt and pulls him towards her. He immediately loses his grip on Hyunjin, and he reaches desperately to get back to him, but she's too strong.

He wants to fight back, he really does, but it’s as if all his strength leaves his body as soon as he feels her cold hands on his neck.

“Hyunjin, look here please,” she says, voice almost gentle, and Hyunjin snaps his eyes open, clearly under a spell to follow her every command. His eyes are reddened with tears, pupils blown from fear. 

Changbin tries to claw her hands off his neck, but her grip is tight and his hands burn with frostbite when he touches her skin. She seems annoyed by it and instead chooses to hold him up by his hair, feet dangling pitifully above the ground. The whole situation feels like a nightmare, it feels fake, just like the room full of mirrors earlier. Changbin shuts his eyes, trying to make it all go away, but he can’t. 

The sound of a kid clapping excitedly makes him open his eyes again.

From the corner of his eye he sees the deity pull a long, thin knife from her robe’s pocket. 

“D–don’t,” Hyunjin whispers, shaking his head as far as the spell allows him. 

“Oh, I will.” She brings the blade up to Changbin’s neck, and he whimpers softly as the freezing metal sticks to his skin. He’s trying to stay strong, for Hyunjin, hoping that there’s some way out of this situation. But he feels so weak, can’t even move with the deity’s hands on him. It’s like he’s been poisoned, paralyzed by her touch.

She presses the blade deeper into his skin. “I’ll kill your true love right in front of your eyes and you will spend the rest of eternity here, reliving this exact moment.”

“No,” Hyunjin refutes, “I– I won’t see you do it.” Hyunjin wills away the tears and takes a deep breath. He seems calmer now, and for a second Changbin thinks he’s found a way out of here. But then he says, “Your husband. I know how he did it, how he died. I can do it too, just like him.”

Changbin feels the deity’s hand shake through the place where the knife is touching him. “You wouldn’t,” she says, not sounding too sure of herself, “You’d transfer your divinity to your lover just so you can die? And curse him with the powers you hate so much? You’re bluffing.”

Hyunjin laughs softly, but there’s no joy in it. “Of course not. There’s nine children here. I can choose whichever one I want as my vessel.” Hyunjin sniffs, trying to steady his weak voice before he speaks again. “If I die, you won’t kill him. You wouldn’t want our souls to be together in the other realm.”

For a second, all Changbin can feel is his own heart shattering into pieces as his brain figures out what he’s suggesting. 

Hyunjin is so set on not wanting to see Changbin die, on not wanting to suffer any longer, that he’s chosen to give up his own life instead. 

Changbin shakes his head, tries to speak, but how can he find the words to stop him? Hyunjin’s eyes are determined, and Changbin already knows that he can’t change his mind. 

Finally, for the first time in a long time, Changbin just cries. 

He wants to hold Hyunjin, wants to hold him one last time, but he can’t escape the deity’s grasp on him. Changbin thrashes and thrashes, trying to get closer to Hyunjin, to just somehow speak some sense into him. Maybe if he kissed him he could show him that it wasn’t only Hyunjin’s life that was saved when they first kissed on the beach, a moment that seems so long ago now.

“Changbin,” Hyunjin speaks his name like it’s the most precious thing in the whole world, and he follows it up with the sweetest smile ever, dimples showing on his tear streaked cheeks. “Thank you for everything.”

These are the last words he says before his eyes go blank and his head falls forward, hunched over in the chair.

The deity lets out a guttural shriek which pierces Changbin’s ears as she drops him to the ground. 

Changbin tries to crawl to Hyunjin, but her foot lands on his back, pinning him down. He looks up at Hyunjin’s lifeless body.

_ No, _ he thinks, _ this can’t be happening. I can still save him. _

He sobs as he tries to get away from her, nails tearing off his fingers as he tries to get a grip on the ground. Her weight squeezes all the air out of him as he chokes through the tears, but he doesn’t need air right now. He just needs to be with Hyunjin, just needs to get him back.

There’s still so many things they need to do, there’s a whole world out there for them to explore together, as one. He can’t lose him now. 

He needs him. 

Too many things happen all at once.

The doors fly open, the force of it sending a sound wave through the room. Changbin barely hears the whistle of an arrow flying over him before it lands in the deity’s chest, right in the heart.

She screams as blue flames envelop her, burning hotter than any fire. The children at the table cry out for her, their voices almost loud enough to overpower the sound of the deity burning to death. Finally, the screaming stops and she turns into dust, drizzling down like snow all over Changbin’s back. The children soon follow after, breathing out their last breath until they fall over into their half eaten meals.

Jisung drops his bow and runs to Changbin’s side to help him up, dusting him off as he does so. Minho follows soon after, face pale and shaken. 

Changbin staggers, ignoring Jisung’s worried questions, and stumbles towards Hyunjin, dropping to his knees in front of him.

He reaches up to hold his face, finding his skin to be so cold as he lifts his head, lifeless eyes staring back at him.

Changbin finally understands now. He had also rather died than having to see him like this.

“He’s dead,” he whispers, squeezing his cheeks, trying to find any remnants of his wonderful heat.

Minho touches Hyunjin’s head, his fingers visibly shaking. Changbin doesn’t have to look up to know that he’s crying. “He’s not,” Minho finally says, voice rough. “Did he– did he go to the other realm?” Changbin just nods.

He almost doesn’t hear the way Minho’s voice breaks when he says the next part. “He’s never gone there before so he doesn’t know how to get out. He doesn’t know how his powers work.” And then, “I think you can reach out to him, Changbin. This is something only you can do. There’s still some time before his body– before he can’t return to his body.”

Changbin doesn’t think he has any more tears to cry, and yet he can’t stop them from flowing as he gently shakes Hyunjin’s shoulders. “Hey, Hyunjin,” he tries, putting his hand under his chin until they’re face to face, “wake up, love.”

Hyunjin’s cold skin reminds him of last year, of just how cold the other acted towards him when they first landed on the island. And how that coldness slowly changed. From the warmth of a few candles burning quietly as they slept on each other’s shoulders in front of a dying fire in the library, to the trace of heat Changbin had the pleasure of feeling when they shared a blanket as they went out in the first snow together. 

He remembers it so well, the moment he watched Hyunjin spin around in the snow, chasing snowflakes. The moment which he now realizes was the moment he fell in love with him. 

Changbin moves to press a kiss to Hyunjin’s cheek, and finds his skin still coated in tears, cold and wet just like those melted snowflakes.

“Hey, remember what we talked about? You wanted to see the capital, right?” He puts his forehead against his lover’s, trying his hardest not to look away from his vacant eyes. With great difficulty, he pushes down his sadness, and the racing thoughts of what might happen if this doesn’t work. He needs to focus now. For Hyunjin. “I’m gonna introduce you to my mother, I know she’ll love you.” He tries to say the words confidently, like they don’t hurt him as much as they do.

“Changbin,” Minho starts, trying to pull him back by his shoulder, “I think it’s over–”

“No,” Changbin shrugs him off, “don’t give up on him. I won’t.” He ignores Jisung’s sobs in the background, seeing him burying his face in Minho’s neck from the corner of his eye.

Changbin takes Hyunjin’s hand and wraps it around the pendant on his chest, hiding the small dragon in his hold. “Remember when I gave you this? You said you could feel my intentions, right? Well, now’s a good time to feel them again.” In a last effort, he presses their mouths together, but he’s met with unmoving cold lips, so very unlike Hyunjin.

But he just keeps them there, not ready to say goodbye just yet. The feeling gets a little less horrible when some of his own body heat transfers, making his lips less cold.

Until they become impossibly warm, almost like–

Wait. 

Changbin pulls away only to find Hyunjin blinking back at him, looking almost as shocked as him. 

Hyunjin moves his free hand to wrap it around both of theirs, which are holding the dragon pendant. “I didn’t forget,” he says, voice hoarse, “how could I ever forget?”

Changbin wastes no time in crashing their lips together again, inviting in the heat that has now returned to his lover’s body.

He’s back, he’s alive, everything is going to be alright.

They’re going to be together forever.

Changbin laughs through his tears. He’s so goddamn tired from everything, all the fear suddenly slipping from his body, that he feels weak and shaky. But it’s okay, since it’s all over now. The only thing keeping him from completely collapsing onto himself is Hyunjin’s lips moving against his own.

Minho clears his throat behind them. “I’m sorry for interrupting, but there’s something I have to do.” 

Changbin moves back just in time for Minho to slap the side of Hyunjin’s head.

“Ouch,” Hyunjin rubs at his skin where the hand hit him, “I deserved that.”

“You fucking did,” Minho says as he kneels down next to Changbin, wrapping his arms around Hyunjin’s waist, hugging him close. 

Jisung appears behind Hyunjin and ruffles his hair, leaning down to press a wet kiss to his cheek. “Idiot, you had us pretty scared just now.”

“What happened?” Hyunjin asks, blinking sleepily, slowly regaining strength. 

“I killed a god,” Jisung says before any of them can speak up, “Han ‘godslayer’ Jisung. Sounds pretty cool, right?”

Once Hyunjin finds the strength to get up and walk again, they try to find their way out of the building, not wanting to stay there any second longer than needed. Hyunjin leans on Changbin, his body heavy, but Changbin won’t complain. He needs his heat more than he needs air now.

It must be because they’ve just been through the most stressful time ever, but since they’re no longer in danger, they feel giddy, laughing at the jokes Jisung cracks. Joking had always been his way to cope after all. 

Their laughter dies when they exit the shrine.

Geom is awake now, ground shaking as he chases after a young boy, playing around.

A familiar black stallion, unbothered by the dragon, grazes next to their horses.

In the grass lies Chan, chewing on a blade of grass, like he’s completely unaware of what just happened inside the shrine.

“You don’t look happy to see me,” he says once they approach.

Again, Changbin fights the urge to punch the man, but instead helps Hyunjin get to his horse. 

Felix stops in the middle of the field to wave at them, Geom almost crashing into him as he tries to slow down in time, still getting used to his big body.

“You better be heading towards the capital, Seo Changbin,” Chan says.

Changbin turns, not liking the tone in his voice one bit. “Why?”

Chan sits up and spits out the grass. His grin is devilish. “Because I just got word that the king died, and they’re looking for someone to replace him.”

* * *

Riding on Geom’s back is weird and terrifying.

Changbin holds onto Hyunjin for dear life, for more reasons than one. 

Hyunjin is still shaking a bit as he guides Geom to fly them to the capital, still recovering from what happened before, but at least he’s back to his normal temperature, his back keeping Changbin warm like a furnace as they fly through the clouds.

The king is dead.

Chan’s words still ring through his head. It seems unreal. Changbin’s father was such a strong person, and he’d never even considered the fact that someone like him could die. He wonders what it is that took him. Old age? An illness? Maybe a battle? He doesn’t want to think about it too much, especially doesn’t want to think about how he should be feeling about his death. He’s got other things to worry about.

If the king is dead, it means that he is next in line.

Changbin is grateful for it being night, since it means they can fly over the city without causing too much of an uproar. Geom has gotten better at flying, but is still clumsy with his landings, which shows when he lands on the palace roof, his hind leg kicking off one of the bricks on the border. 

He takes Hyunjin’s hand when they slide off his back, and guides him to a secret hatch, one only he and Jisung know of since they used to often sneak onto the roof when they were younger. As he guides him down the stairs in the corner tower, he realizes it feels funny, having Hyunjin in his city, in his home. Changbin just wishes it was under better circumstances.

He doesn’t expect the sword at his throat as soon opens the door into the main building.

The sword drops. “Changbin?”

“Hangyeol!” Changbin leaps forward, pushing the sword to the side before wrapping his friend in a tight hug. “I missed you so much.”

Hangyeol hugs him back and it feels so safe. It isn’t until this moment that Changbin truly feels like he’s come home. “I thought you died. We all did.” Hangyeol pulls away. “I came here because I heard a bang. I thought we were under attack.”

“We actually flew in on a dragon,” Changbin says, and Hangyeol frowns, looking at him like he’s crazy. Hyunjin clears his throat from behind him. “Ah, Gyeol, meet my–”

“Friend.” Hyunjin holds out his hand. “I’m Hyunjin.”

Changbin watches them firmly shake hands and chews on his lip. He doesn’t want it to be like this, it feels wrong. He trusts Hangyeol with his life, so he corrects, “Actually, Hyunjin is my lover.”

“Oh.” Hangyeol folds his arms and cocks his head to the side, sizing Hyunjin up. He then reaches over to ruffle Changbin’s hair, the strength in his grip pushing him down a little. “You did good, Bin.”

Hyunjin raises an eyebrow at the whole display and then laughs, his eyes fond as Changbin tries to put his hair back in place.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but,” Hangyeol's face grows sullen, “your father passed two days ago, Changbin. My condolences.”

Changbin gestures for Hangyeol to stop sulking. “I know, that’s why we’re here.”

Hangyeol frowns at this. “How did you– wait, that’s irrelevant. What’s more important is that the council members are having a meeting with your mother and sister now. They’re deciding who should rule until your sister bears a son.”

Changbin feels weirdly excited despite the situation. “Well,” he says, as he turns to Hyunjin, “as Jisung would say: let’s crash this party.”

* * *

Changbin walks into the council room with newfound confidence, because how hard can this be after almost having your throat cut by a deity.

His demeanor immediately crumbles as soon as he sees his mother.

His mother looks tired, worn out, but still as beautiful as ever. Tears fill her eyes when she sees her son. She gets up from her rightful seat at the head of the table and holds out her arms. Changbin falls into her hold, sobbing into her neck like a baby.

“You’re so skinny,” she says as she pulls away, grabbing at his cheeks. “I told everyone you were still alive, but no one believed me.” She throws a judgemental look over her shoulder at the older men sitting at the council table. Changbin spots his sister, standing in front of her chair, looking like she’s seen a ghost.

“And who might this handsome man be?” his mother asks, turning to Hyunjin who is awkwardly standing by the door.

Hyunjin comes closer and wipes his hands on his pants before politely kneeling. Changbin chuckles at the sight of it, because Hyunjin probably doesn’t know you only have to kneel before the queen when you’re in the throne room. 

“My name is Hyunjin. Your son has saved my life many times while he’s been away,” Hyunjin says, his eyes cast to the ground. 

“Rise,” his mother says, and Hyunjin immediately does so. “If you’re a man my son deems worth saving, then there’s no need for you to kneel. Ever.”

“Where have you been,” his sister finally hisses. “Did you save the princess? I don’t see her.”

Changbin wipes his tears from his cheeks. “No, but–”

This is the exact moment Geom chooses to try and stick his head through the open window. However, his snout is too large and he almost gets stuck. He lets out what sounds like a whine and throws them what can almost be described as puppy eyes.

Everyone in the room, even Cheonsa, gasps.

Hyunjin walks to the window to push the dragon out. “Geom, go play.”

Changbin shrugs. “I didn’t slay the dragon either.”

“Well,” his mother sits back down at her chair and pulls out the empty chair next to her for Changbin to sit, “now that my son is finally here, we can get this over with and sleep early. God knows I need it.” She gestures for one of the councilmen to stand so Hyunjin can sit as well. The man looks like he’s fuming when he has to stand behind his seat, but keeps his mouth shut otherwise.

“The council wants me to continue to rule as queen regent, the army nominated Cheonsa instead, and I think you, the crown prince, should take your rightful place on the throne.” She reaches over the table to reach for his hand. “But what do _ you _ want, Changbin?”

He doesn’t miss the way his sister’s eyes flare up when they land on their mother’s hand.

Changbin realizes that he doesn’t know what he wants. He came here to do what’s right, to fulfill his duty, but he didn’t think he was going to get a choice in the matter. Now that he’s offered a choice, he just doesn’t know. There’s too many sides to being king, too many pros and cons he has to waver. And honestly, he doesn’t even know if he has it in him.

Hyunjin raises his hand. “Can I say something?”

“No,” Cheonsa says, eyes on fire.

“Yes,” the queen corrects. 

“I’ve told Changbin this before, but–” Hyunjin takes Changbin’s free hand, and his mother gives them a knowing smile, “but I think he’d make an amazing king. He’s kind, and brave, and– he risked his life trying to save me, just to do the right thing, even though I told him not to. I think that’s something this country needs.”

Changbin looks Hyunjin in the eyes, his eyes that are full of trust, and realizes this is something he must do. He always envisioned himself as a sad and lonely king, one who would struggle to keep his father’s legacy going. But now he has Hyunjin, and his friends, all by his side to help him, something they can do together. It might get hard at times, but if he’s king he can build a better future for the country, build a future for him and Hyunjin.

Build a world created in their vision.

“Sure,” he says, the words not reflecting the weight it carries, “I’ll be king.”

“Good,” his mother squeezes his hand before standing up. “We’ll have the ceremony in the morning. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to bed and enjoy a final good night’s rest as the queen.”

Everyone files out of the room after they are dismissed, except for Cheonsa.

She sits leaning back in her chair, chewing on her cheek, probably formulating something horrible to say to them. 

But before she can, Changbin says, “My first act as king will be giving you the highest rank in the military.” He doesn’t say what rank, because honestly, he has no clue how their army works. 

She crosses her arms. “Why? So you can ship me off far away from the capital?”

“No, because you’re a great strategist and I trust you to defend the country,” he says, and for once his sister doesn’t have a retort. 

Eventually, she just nods to herself, seeming to be satisfied with that answer, and leaves to retire for the night without a goodbye. 

“What a day,” Hyunjin says, crooked smile on his face.

“You can say that.” Changbin stands, knees popping as he does, his body no longer used to just sitting around. He chooses to climb onto Hyunjin’s lap, legs dangling on either side of his hips. 

Changbin leans down to press a quick kiss to the other’s mouth, and his heart swells when he feels Hyunjin smile against his lips. When he moves back, he reaches up to play with Hyunjin’s bangs, wiping them away so he can take a good look at his lover’s beautiful face.

Hyunjin giggles at the tickling sensation, and his eyes sparkle when looks up at Changbin. “My King, what are we gonna do from now on?”

Changbin sighs at the title, wondering if he’ll ever get used to it. 

He hears Geom shriek in the distance, causing havoc, and he smiles when he says,

“Whatever the hell we want.”

♚

It’s the bright spring sun, shining through the open window, that wakes him from his deep slumber.

Changbin climbs from his bed, stretching his stiff neck, before walking towards the window, fully intending to close the curtains so he can get another hour of sleep. 

A smile grows on his face when he sees what’s going on in the courtyard.

Seungmin is up early, trying to give Geom a bath. The dragon snaps at the young man whenever he manages to empty a bucket of water on him, steam drifting up as it evaporates before he can begin to scrub.

Hyunjin groans as he stretches in bed, slowly waking, thin covers slipping off his naked body. “What’s going on?” he asks sleepily.

“Seungmin’s trying to clean Geom. It’s hilarious.” Changbin chuckles as the dragon sets another stack of hay on fire.

“You should give him a raise,” Hyunjin says, pulling off the covers completely to tease Changbin into coming back to bed.

Changbin closes the curtain finally. “Funny, because_ I _thought my lover was the one in charge of coins.” He crawls onto the mattress, pressing a kiss to the other’s neck. “How long do we have until we have to go to the river?”

Hyunjin moans as Changbin softly bites down into his skin. “I think– I think Jeongin won’t get here until the end of the day. It’s a long swim from down South.”

“Good,” Changbin moves his kisses to Hyunjin’s jaw, working his way to his mouth, pace aggravatingly slow, “because the king is a very religious man and he feels like worshipping his deity today.”

Hyunjin takes the opportunity to push Changbin off him and flip him on his back, arms pinned to the mattress. Changbin swallows as he looks up at his lover, wrists burning hot under his hold. Hyunjin leans down, his heat already spreading through Changbin’s body, his magic so strong and overwhelming nowadays. Goosebumps arise on Changbin’s neck as Hyunjin whispers,

“You better start praying.”

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi.
> 
> so u might have noticed how i made this into a series. i'll be writing part 2 and 3 soon! subscribe to me (my ao3 account, not the fic) or subscribe to the series if u wanna stay updated.
> 
> also pls lemme know your favorite part of this fic in a comment, i would love to read it uwu
> 
> edit: I forgot to tease yall about part 2! more fluff! politics! being king is harder than changbin thought! wait is that an army marching across the border?


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